LIFE 



REV. J. F. C. HEYER, M. D, 



REV. W. A. LAMBERT, B. A. 



Prepared for the Father Heyer Missionary Society of the Lutheran 
Theological Seminary at Mount Airy, Philadelphia. 



PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
1903. 









Published expressly for subscribers of The Lutheran Church Review. 



Note. 



A Life of Father Heyer needs no apology ; excuse ought 
rather be ofifered for not having one before this. But his 
great predecessor in India, C. F. Schwartz, waited even longer 
for a biographer ; it was thirty-five years after his death before 
his life Vv'as published by Dr. Pearson in 1833. The present 
life was undertaken by the Father Heyer Missionary Society, 
of Mt. Airy Seminary, in 1896, at the suggestion of Dr. 
Jacobs. A committee of six was appointed in that year to 
gather materials for a life. The following year a new com- 
mittee was appointed with the writer as chairman; the work 
was distributed among the members, note-books procured and 
materials gathered. In the spring of 1898 the writer left the 
seminary, but was retained on the committee. Since then he 
has continued the work alone, using the materials already in 
hand and gathering others. In 1900 the society authorized 
him to publish a life such as he could prepare. 

Sources for the life were not wanting, but they are so 
scattered that it has been impossible to consult and use them 
as they deserve; my note-books contain many references to 
articles which have at the time when most needed been out 
of reach. The following list gives the chief sources ; 

Autobiographical sketches in the "Lutherische Zedtschrift," 1865, 

'67 and '68. 
An Introduction to the History of the Lutheran Mission among the 

Telugus; also in the "Zeitschrift," 1869. 
MS. Autobiography, covering early life. In possession of Rev. Wis- 

chan, Philadelphia, who used it in preparing the sketch in hi8 

Life of Groening. 
MS. History of Am. Lutheran Missions in India, now in the Arch- 
ives at Mt. Airy. Described by Dr. Jacobs in the Lutheran 

Review, Jan., 1900, pp. 50-62. 
MS. Letters, etc., in Mt. Airy and Gettysburg. 
Contemporary Church Papers, especially the Lutheran Obsenrer and 

the Lutherische Zeitschrift. 



A number of letters from various men, especially one from the Rev. 

Dr. Schmidt, of Rajahmundry, India, in which he gives remin- 
iscences of Father Heyer. Also one from the pastor of the Ste- 
phanus-Kirche in Helmstedt^ transcribing the entrances' upon 
the Church records referring to Father Heyer. Rev. J. P. 
Hentz furnished a copy of several papers and extensive remin- 
iscences. All these papers will be placed into the hands of the 
Father Heyer Missionary Society. Special thanks are due Rev. 
Hentz, who has taken active interest in this matter. 
A number of sketches have already been published, in Rev. Wis- 
chan's Leben Groenings, Dr. Jacobs' Church History, Rev. Tra- 
bert's Missions among the Telugus, Rev. L. B. Wolf's After 
Fifty Years, Rev. P. A. Laury's Lutheran Missions; also a 
sketch by Rev. J. A. Scheffer in the Church Messenger, 1892, 
and one by Rev. Dr. Wackernagel in the Lutheran Cyclopedia. 
While not ignoring these sketches, the writer has aimed as far 
as possible to give facts from the sources; 'if he has gone too 
far and given more than was absolutely necessary, it was with 
the purpose that he might furnish materials fix)m which others 
might draw their own conclusions. In a few instances he has 
found it necessary to assume an apologetic tone, because he be- 
lieved justice demanded 'it. In all cases he has^ endeavored to 
be just and accurate, and has only regretted that he has not 
been able to clear up all points to his own satisfaction. 

This Life was originally offered to the Board of Publica- 
tion, by it referred to the Foreign Mission Board, and at the 
suggestion of the latter offered to the Review. W. A. L, 



THE LIFE OF FATHER HEYER. 



CHAPTER I. 



Johann Friedrich Christian Heyer, for such is the full 
name of him who is more familiarly known as Father Heyer, 
was born in Helmstedt,* in the duchy of Brunswick, Germany, 
July lo, 1793. His parents were Johann Gottlieb Heyer, bur- 
gher and master-furrier in Helmstedt, and Frederike Sophie 
Johanne Wagener Heyer. Of them little is known beyond the 
fact that they were married in the large St. Stephen's Church in 
Helmstedt on May 2.^, 1788, had six children, four sons and 
two daughters, of whom ^Father Heyer was the third child and 
the second son. They were "pious persons, who brought up 
their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." 

The eldest son, Carl Heinrich Anton, was born in 1791, 
and like his father became burgher and master-furrier in Helm- 
stedt. According to the church records he was married on 
November 23, 181 5. and had four children, for two of whom 
Father Heyer is recorded as sponsor. Carl seems to have 
come to Philadelphia soon after 1834. His son, Frederick, 
studied law in Philadelphia, having graduated from the High 
School in 1850. He was admitted to the bar in 1855, and died 
in 1871 or 'yo.. Father Heyer mentions only one other 
brother, so that it is probable that one died early. The 
younger brother, Heinrich, was born in 1796. After having 
been a dull boy, he became a bright student, and a Rationalist, 
but returned to orthodoxy, and was for at least forty years 



* ' Helmstedt is an ancient town of ungainly appearance, yet it is distinguished 
for the republican spirit and the kind hospitality of its inhabitants towards the 
stranger. . . . Helmstedt is well known as having been the birth-place of 
Helmuth and Storck, two fathers of our Lutheran Zion in America." — Lutheran 
Observer, October 5, 1833. 



Lutheran pastor in Gross-Posserin, Mecklenburg. The 
mother died September 22, 1815, the father January 11, 1832 
At present the family no longer exists in Helmstedt, and dis- 
tant relatives only remember that Father Heyer existed, and 
more than thirty years ago visited his old home. 

Of the first fourteen years of the future missionary's life 
we know little. His birth occurred in troubled times. The 
American Revolution had ended, but the French Revolution 
had begun. The former had established the principle of po- 
litical liberty, and had largely been fought in the name of 
Christianity; the latter aimed to establish religious license 
upon the ruins of all existing order. Exactly four months 
after Heyer's birth the Christian religion was decreed abolished 
in France (Nov. 10, 1793). On the day following William 
Carey, the "consecrated cobbler," landed at Calcutta to estab- 
lish that religion among the Heathen. This may suffice to in- 
dicate the confusion, the uncertainty in which all things were 
involved, especially matters religious. How far the citizens 
of Helmstedt felt the movements about them, and to what ex- 
tent they were affected we cannot tell. The learned circles had 
long since been influenced by the "Aufklarung." Lessing 
had published his Wolfenbuttel Fragments only a short dis- 
tance from Helmstedt. But in the University orthodoxy was 
still defended, especially by Joh. Benedict Carpzov (1720 
1803), and we have no reason to believe that the pastors were 
other than orthodox. 

The childhood of Father Heyer seems not to have been 
in any way remarkable. He was bright and active, began to 
attend school at the early age of three years, and made rapid 
progress in his studies. In the winter of 1804- '05 he narrowly 
escaped drowning, breaking through the ice. He calls his 
companions dare-devils, and we may infer that the same term 
might have been applied to him. A certain daring and love of 
adventure marks his entire career. The only other incident 
of his boyhood known to us is that in the spring of 1807, when 
Helmstedt was occupied by the French, he, a boy of less than 
fourteen years, was called upon to act as interpreter between 
the soldiers and the citizens. In the summer of the same 



year occurred the first great event of his life, when at the re- 
quest of his uncle, a furrier in Philadelphia, he was sent to 
America. 

We are not told what inducements the uncle in Philadel- 
phia held out to bring the boy of fourteen to the New World, 
nor what circumstances made the parents willing to part from 
him. It is barely possible that the closing of the University 
in Helmstedt may have had some connection with the matter, 
affecting no doubt the father's business. When, after he had 
been confirmed, the time arrived for him to leave home, the 
German harbors were blocked. His father took him to the 
Danish harbor Friedrichstadt, and put him in charge of Cap- 
tain Williams, of the American sailing vessel "Pittsburg." 
After eight weeks on the ocean he landed at Philadelphia 
sometime in August, 1807. His uncle paid the price of the 
passage ($140), put the boy in a select school, and afterwards 
set him to making hats, at which he became so expert that he 
could finish eighteen hats in a week, twice as many as the or- 
dinary workman could finish. 

His uncle seldom went to church, and bothered little 
whether the boy went or not. But Heyer loved singing, and 
in the old German Lutheran Zion's Church, at the comer of 
Fourth and Cherry streets, there was good singing. He at- 
tended frequently, and in 1809 was deeply touched by a ser- 
mon by the pastor. Dr. Helmuth. He became a teacher in 
the Sunday school, and a member of the Mosheim Society.'*^ 
Perhaps Dr. Helmuth took a personal interest in the young 
man who came from his native city. But Heyer was par- 

*The Mosheim Society was founded July 24, 1804, by some young Germans 
in Philadelphia, partly for religious purposes and partly to exercise themselves in 
the German language. In order to become better acquainted with religious truths 
and to make themselves more familiar with the better modern German literature, 
this society founded German Sunday schools. From year to year the number of 
members increased so rapidly, that six years after its establishment it was publicly 
incorporated by the state. At its meetings each Saturday in the room given for 
this purpose by the German Lutheran congregation, after the roll call and reading 
of the minutes of the last meeting, the society examined the religious questions 
proposed at its last meeting. Each member read the Bible verses supporting his 
views, and all were for this purpose provided with Bibles and writing materials. 
Cf. Brauns' " Pracktische Belehrung," page 422f., whose book is characterized 
as an " infamous production" (Lutheran Observei*, September 14, 1833), but doubt- 
less gives a fair account of the Mosheim Society. 



8 

ticularly pleased with the sermons of Pastor J. Becker. Soon 
there grew in him a longing to study Theology, and an op- 
portunity was given him to share the instructions given to two 
students by Dr. Helmuth and Dr. F. D. Schaeffer; for it was 
customary in those days for some pastors to tutor students, as 
there were no Lutheran theological seminaries. In June, 
1813, sufficient progress had been made to permit of Heyer's 
being appointed to preach the afternoon sermon in the large 
Zion's Church. But we have his own account, which we can 
follow through a large portion of his life adding such notes 
as may be of interest and value. 

After I had studied theology for some time in Philadel- 
phia under the supervision of the Rev. Drs. Helmuth and 
Schaeffer, I was directed in June, 18 13, to preach the afternoon 
sermon in the large Zion's Church. A bold undertaking for 
one who had little experience, was weak in knowledge, and 
not yet twenty years old. It would have been proper for me 
to answer with Moses : "Lord, send another, for I am young 
and inexperienced." Or it would also have been well if some 
one had advised me : "Tarry at Jericho until your beard be 
grown, and then return." But the sermon was announced, 
and the congregation was not to be disappointed. I had 
written a sermon on Matth. 6:6: "But thou when thou prayest 
enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray 
to thy Father which is in secret ; and thy Father which seeth 
in secret shah reward thee openly."* Of the possibility of 
breaking down in my delivery I had not thought or I would 
not have left the written sermon at home, but taken it along 
to the pulpit for use in case of necessity. But in this case 
also the word was confirmed : "The Lord is mighty in the 
weak." The sermon made a good impression ; after more 
than fifty years I to-day still thank God for it. 

In connection with my theological studies in 1814, I also 
taught the parochial school in the southern part of the city, 
which had been founded by Pastor Van Hofif some years be- 



*Somc in the audience remarked : " The young preacher looked like one 
who had just prayed to his Father in secret." 



fore.* Frequently the young schoolmaster also had to preach 
for the church members in that part of the city on Sunday 
evenings ; and thus with studying, teaching and preaching I 
was very busy. In the daily conversation with the children in 
the school I learned many things that were of great use to me 
in my later pastoral work. It would be well if all young 
preachers had an opportunity to teach school some time before 
they take charge of congregations. 



CHAPTER 11. 

On December 24, 1814, a treaty of peace between England 
and the United States was signed in London ; and toward the 
end of January, 1815, the glad news was announced in Phila- 
delphia. New life and activity in equipping vessels for com- 
merce with foreign nations were displayed. The desire to see 
my parents once more began to grow within me, and in March 
I was already on the voyage to Hamburg on the ship Wash- 
ington, Captain Ward. It was also my intention to continue 
m}' studies at the University of Halle. Dr. Helmuth had 
given me a letter of introduction to Dr. Knapp who had 
studied with him at Halle fifty years before, and whom he had 
for a time tutored privately in Hebrew. The wind from the 
West being strong our voyage away from the States was 
rapid. In three weeks we had almost crossed the Atlantic, 
when, on a Sunday morning at daybreak, we were awakened 
and frightened by a cannon shot. In a few minutes all the men 
were on deck, and, behold, we were near a man-of-war, which 
signaled to us to take in sail and wait. The captain knew as 
little as the rest of us what this meant. Some even thought it 
might be a pirate from Algiers or Tunis, who had ventured 
beyond the Straits of Gibraltar to carry on his piracy with 
greater success. But we did not long remain in uncertainty. 
An ofificer of the man-of-war came on board, and brought the 



*The school was founded in Southwark, Philadelphia, at the direction of the 
congregation in l8o6. Heyer succeeded Mr. Walz on September 15, 1813. 



10 

startling news that Napoleon had escaped from the Island of 
Elba, and for this reason vessels were stopped in order, if pos- 
sible, to recapture this disturber of the peace. But he was not 
to be found among us ; in less than half an hour our ship sailed 
on. But after two or three days we were again stopped, and 
now we were told the almost increditable news that Napoleon 
had driven the King of France from Paris, and was on the 
borders of France with a large army, preparing to defend him- 
self against the attacks of the Austrians and Prussians. When 
we arrived at Hamburg we found everything in great agita- 
tion ; all Europe was full of war and rumors of war. These 
occurrences made a deeper impression upon me than many 
others for the following reasons : during the voyage I had read 
Stilling's* "Siegesgeschichte," or exposition of the Revelation 
of St. John. According to Stilling's reckoning Antichrist was 
to appear in 1816. The verse Rev.. 9:11, according to my view, 
was now being fulfilled : "And they had a king over them, 
which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the 
Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his 
name Apollyon." In my heated imagination I added : in Italian 
it may be Napoleon. That there would now be disturbed and 
frightful times in Europe — of this I had not the slightest 
doubt. The fear that in the interior of the country I would 
be compelled to fight in the war induced me to resolve to re- 
turn to Philadelphia at the first opportunity. In a letter 
written on board the ship Washington, I told my parents that 
I had arrived in Hamburg well and safe ; at the same time I 
requested that some one of my relatives come to visit me be- 
fore I started on my return voyage. 

During the time of the war with England my correspond- 
ence with friends in Germany had to cease ; my parents had 
received no news from me for three years. So much greater 
was their joy when my letters from Hamburg arrived. The 



*Johann Heinrich Jung, a very po|)ular writer at that time, whose life was 
translated atid published by E. L. Hazelius in 1831. The reckoning giving 1816 
as the date of the end of the world or the appearance of anti-Christ, is based upon 
Bengel's chronology. An American edition was published at Reading in 1814. 
J. G. Schmucker's Revelation (1S17 and 1821) is based upon Stilling to some ex- 
ent, but uses a different chronology. 



II 

date read: "Ship Washington, May, 1815." This my dear 
folks could not understand at first ; they thought that I had 
moved to Washington from Philadelphia. But when they 
read further, and found that I had safely made my second 
voyage and had arrived in Hamburg in good health, they 
could not refrain from tears of joyful surprise. Now they 
also said: "It is enough; our son is yet alive: he must come 
that we may see him before we die." It was immediately de- 
cided that my oldest brother, Carl, should go to Hamburg and 
bring me home. The next day he was already seated in the 
coach ; on the third day after that some one knocked at the 
door of my room and told me that a strange gentleman was 
below, and wished to see me. It was my brother whom I had 
seen in a dream the night before. After a separation of eight 
years we had the joy of seeing each other again. My worry 
concerning the military service was removed by my brother's 
promise to be my substitute in case the government insisted 
that 1 must serve. After I had attended to my passport we 
rode away at the first opportunity through Luneburg and 
Braunschweig to Helmstedt, happy and contented. At three 
o'clock in the afternoon we arrived at the paternal home, and 
found everything in excitement. This was caused by the fact 
thcit the day before a regiment of Prussian troops had been 
quartered with the citizens, and was now to be ready for the 
march before sunrise. In the same room where I had taken 
leave eight years before, now occurred the joyful meeting with 
my parents. When the first greetings were over, the door of 
the room again opened, and a youth of nineteen hurried to- 
ward me and embraced me affectionately. But I did not 
know him, and when I asked : Who is this? they said : Do you 
not know your brother Heinrich? When I had seen him last 
he was only eleven years old; but now he had already studied 
at Gottingen for almost two years. When we were children, 
studying went hard with him, so that our dear mother said at 
times: "What will ever become of my dull Heinrich?" I an- 
swered: "One of us three must remain the most ignorant, 
and it may be Heinrich just as well as Carl or Fritz." From 
his twelfth year Heinrich made rapid progress in learning, so 



12 

that my parents considered it advisable to let him study; and 
now the most ignorant had become the most learned. 

Some days after my arrival in Helmstedt I was requested 
to preach for Dr. Bollmann in the large St. Stephen's Church. 
This church was built long before the Reformation, and is 
about 200 feet long and proportionately wide. Here I was 
baptised in 1793, and here I was confirmed in 1807, — and now 
I was to stand in the pulpit where Calixt, Mosheim, Carpzov 
and other Lutheran Church Fathers had preached the gospel. 
The desire of the people to hear the young preacher just ar- 
rived from America was so great that almost 2000 persons at- 
tended the service. In that rationalistic period this was some- 
thing unusual, and for many years the church had not been so 
full. 

My inteniion tu srudy m naiie I could not fulfill, because 
all of the students had marched against the Fatherland's enemy 
as a regiment of volunteers tmder the command of Bliicher, 
and the lectures of the professors had therefore to cease. Under 
tliese circumstances I could readily decide to accompany my 
brother to Gottingen. The journey was made on foot. This 
was the custom of the students, because it was good for the 
health, and because wagons were not easily met with on the 
side streets. The number of students at Gottingen was given 
as I TOO. In a printed catalogue the names of ^2, professors 
were given ; also the subjects on which each professor intended 
to lecture. After I was matriculated by Consistorialrath 
Plank, I reported to the professors whose lectures I intended 
to attend. Exegesis on the Gospels according to Matthew, 
Mark and Luke I heard under Pott ; on St. John under Plank, 
Jr. ; history of doctrines under Plank, Sr. ; ethics under Stiiud- 
lin ; catechetics under Trefurt, etc. 

The students are under little or no supervision. Almost 
like tlie young mechanics, who, after they have passed through 
their apprenticeships, are free as journeymen to choose where 
and for whom they will work, the young scholars, after they 
have passed through the preparatory schools decide for them- 
selves what professors and how many lectures they will hear. 
The diligent students have the best opportunity to gather for 



13 

themselves treasures of wisdom. But among the great mim- 
ber of students there are many dissolute fellows who squande-- 
time and money and leave the university almost as ignorant 
a? when they arrived. Germany has comparatively more in- 
stitutions of learning than other countries ; every German 
kingdom or principality has high schools and one or more 
universities. In order to keep these institutions in a flourish- 
ing condition, each governm-cnt makes it its business to find 
and appoint the ablest and best qualified men as professors. 
Hence it is that, as may be said, the learned in Germany find a 
I etter market than in other countries, and that the Germans 
excel other nations in learning. 

On June i8, 1815, the report reached Gottingen that 
Bliicher had been defeated in the battle at Ligny ; this gave 
rise to much anxiety among the inhabitants. On the same 
day preparations were made to organize the students as a regi- 
ment of volunteers, and to send them to the front under Wel- 
lington as soon as possible. Under these circumstances I 
could not have escaped ; for here no substitutes were taken, and 
T would have had to march involuntarily with the volunteers. 
But fortunately the report of victory flew through the entire 
country as on the wings of the wind : "Wellington and 
Bliicher have defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. The ex-Em- 
peror has fled and his army is retreating toward Paris in great 
disorder." If the dejection two days before was great, the 
rejoicing now rose so much higher in consequence. In the 
evening a torch parade was arranged, and there was jubilation 
in one of the pleasure gardens near Gottingen until late at 
night. The park was somewhat lit up by pitch torches, but 
also filled with an almost unbearable smoke. The young 
heroes (students) sang and screamed and drank and hit upon 
the tables and benches with their rapiers and swords, as if they 
wanted to hew into a thousand pieces the tyrant, who, for ^ 
time, had ruled Europe with a rod of iron. To me, as I 
looked on from some distance, the whole seemed like a scene 
from the underworld such as I do not desire to see again. 

When I left Philadelphia some friends remarked: "We 
fear that your faith will sufifer shipwreck among the learned 



14 

neologues (Rationalists) in Germany, and then you will no 
longer be able to be of service to our church in America." To 
this I answered : "If my faith suffers shipwreck, my preaching 
must also sufifer shipwreck ; for if the Bible does not reveal to 
us the will of God concerning our salvation, the ministry also 
has no meaning." In Gottingen I now had to stand the test, 
and, thanks to God, I came through unharmed. In the ex- 
egetical studies especially Rationalism tried its skill in ex- 
plaining away miracles. But in most cases this was done in 
such a wonderful and daring manner that it produced the oppo- 
site effect on me ; instead of being led astray I was much more 
confirmed in my faith. My brother with whom I roomed was 
a Rationalist, but no scoffer. He even granted that a preacher 
with a supra-naturalistic views could fulfill his office with more 
cheerful confidence than the neologues. "But," said he, "I do 
not have your convictions and I cannot and will not be a hypo- 
crite." Through my brother I became acquainted with Pastor 
Thilo, who was stationed as a country preacher not far from 
Gottingen, and was one of the few who still preached repentance 
and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Here I experienced that 
the grace of God produces closer communion of souls than 
natural family relationship. There was a soul-sympathy be- 
tween Thilo and myself such as did not at that time exist be- 
tween myself and my brother. But some years later I had the 
pleasure of reading in a letter from this brother the confession : 
"I have now begun that reading of the Bible in which one 
throws the voluminous commentaries into a comer, and turns 
to the fountain of light." And the Lord heard his prayer; 
he was rescued from the power of darkness. For at least 
forty years he has been stationed as Orthodox Lutheran 
preacher in Gross-Poserin, Grossherzogthum Mecklenburg, 

During the fall of 1815 we went to Helmstedt to spend 
several weeks with our nearest relatives. In those days our 
good pious mother ended her pilgrimage, being 57 years of 
age. A short time before her parting, she said: "The dear 
Lord has heard my prayer ; after long separation we have en- 
joyed the pleasure of seeing each other again, and now the 



15 

Lord lets me depart in peace." The spirit of a pious mother 
rests rich in blessing upon children and children's children. 

My second journey to Gottingen I had to make alone, 
for my brother had finished his studies. During the winter 
I had a room-mate from Braunschweig, a son of Pastor Wit- 
ting, who spoke English fluently; in our conversations we 
generally used the English language. In accordance with 
the old German proverb, "Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund," 
it was customary among the students at Gottingen to begin 
early and to study diligently in the forenoon. An hour be- 
fore daybreak the room was w^armed and the lamps were lit. 
In this way most of the streets were ht up, and it was Hght 
enough so that one could readily find his way without a lan- 
tern — a convenience for those who attended lectures from 6 
to 7. Still it is also probable that for many of the young men 
the lights were, lit in vain. Instead of getting up, the Proverb 
6 : 10 may have been appropriate : "Yes, sleep a little longer, 
slumber yet a little ; fold the hands a little that you may sleep." 
(German Version.) 

During the spring vacation of 1816 my oldest brother 
accompanied me to the Leipzig fair. Our way took us 
through Halle, and I made use of this opportunity to pay my 
respects to the Rev. Dr. Knapp. It was a great pleasure to 
the aged scholar to hear from the friend of his youth. Dr. 
Helmuth, in America. We also viewed the buildings of the 
Francke Institution ; but as my traveling companions were in 
a hurry I had not time to satisfy my curiosity. In Leipzig we 
tarried several days. Among other things I visited the bat- 
tlefield of October 16 and 18, 1813, where the allied armies 
won that brilliant and ever-memorable victory at Leipzig, 
and so severely defeated Napoleon that he began his retreat 
in such haste that the street from Leipzig to Mayence was 
covered with corpses of pack-animals and men, forsaken wa- 
gons and cannon, and he did not stop until the Rhine separa- 
ted him from his enemies. In the same place where Napoleon 
was defeated in 181 3, Gustav Adolph gained a victory over 
the imperial army under Gen. Tilly, September 7, 163 1 ; and 
eleven years later, October 23, 1642, Forst.enson defeated the 



i6 

Austrians at Breitenfeld, an hour from Leipzig. Over the 
main entrance to a large stone church a cannon ball was 
built into the wall, with the inscription : "During the. great 
battle on the i6th and i8th of October, 1813, the Lord pre- 
served this house." The damaged houses in the city still 
showed in which streets the fighting had been fiercest during 
the retreat. On the bank of the Elster where the Polish 
Prince Poniatowsky lost his life, a monument has been 
erected. 

At the Leipzig fair I for the first time saw merchants in 
Oriental dress ; but it did not enter my thoughts that I would 
sometime live for years where this is the most comfortable 
and the generally prevailing dress. 

In the late summer of 1816 I again took leave of father 
and brothers to start on my second voyage to America. In 
leaving the university no examination is held. The profes- 
sors when requested give the students written certificates, 
stating that they attended their lectures. But most students 
go away without asking for such certificates, because, before 
the regents where they must afterwards undergo a rigid ex- 
amination, their receiving situations depends not on their 
certificates, but on their knowledge. 



CHAPTER III. 

In 1817 the Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania and 
adjacent states met at York. With three other appHcants I ap- 
pHed for admission into this reverend Synod. The examining 
committee consisted of Pastors C. Jaeger, of Lehigh county, 
Moeller of Chambersburg, and Ernst of Lebanon. The ex- 
aminers dealt very kindly with the young candidates. 

The leading or most influential members of the Synod at 
that time were: Ch. Endress, G. Lochmann, J. G. Schmucker, 
H. Muhlenberg, C. Jaeger, etc. The fathers of the earlier 
time were either already entered upon the joy of the Lord, or 
could no longer attend because of the weakness of age. The 
preachers just mentioned were all educated in Pennsylvania, 
and had mostly studied theology under the guidance and su- 
pervision of Dr. J. H. Helmuth. Endress was thorough in 
his sermons, Lochmann had popular gifts as a preacher, 
Schmucker preached from the heart and edifyingly. A synod- 
ical sermon on 2 Cor. 5:14: "For the love of Christ constrain- 
eth us," made a deep impression. The divisions were: I. Into 
the ministry, II. Constraineth us to remain in the ministry, 
III. To show faithfulness and diligence in the ministry. 
Among the preachers, however, according to my view, H. 
Muhlenberg was the best pulpit orator, earnest and impressive. 
A sermon on Gen. 19: 17-22: " Haste thee and save thy soul," 
will remain in my memory forever. 

At the Synod in York I also became acquainted with the 
Rev. Father Stauch.* He was one of the first Lutheran 
preachers in Ohio, and worked hard in the new settlements of 
that state, but also accomplished much good. Father Stauch 
had a priestly appearance ; I thought of the words, John 1 : 41 : 
"Behold an Isarelite indeed, in whom there is no guile." In 
spite of his age he had made the journey from Lisbon, Ohio, 



*An autobiography of this earnest worker, brief but full of Interest, 
is among the MSS. of the Historical Library at Gettysburg. 



i8 

to York on horseback ; but it was the last time that he crossed 
the Alleg^hanies to visit friends in the East and attend the 
Synod of Pennsylvania. He rests from his labors a long time 
now, as also do the other preachers mentioned above. He 
was faithful in little, and, I doubt not, he has been set over 
much. 

About this time a transition period had begun in the Synod 
as also in the congregations. Many of the fathers of the 
earlier times had made efforts to hinder the use of the English 
language in worship. Their opinion was that the introduction 
of the English language would adulterate the purity of the 
Lutheran doctrine. When we think how our Church has 
fared since then, it almost seems that his opinion was not al- 
together without foundation. Yet. thanks to God, the danger 
is now past, we hope, and we now see that pure Lutheranism is 
not bound to any one language. In this direction we owe 
much to our English Church paper (The Lutheran). 

Gottes Wort und Luther's Lehr 
Vergehet nun und nlmmer mehr. 

In 1817 or soon thereafter English preaching was already 
held in several Lutheran congregations in Pennsylvania, as e. 
g. in Lancaster, Plarrisburg, Easton, Carlisle, York, etc. In 
the Synod itself the two languages were finally set upon an 
equal footing. 

At the time of my reception into the Ministerium the Lu- 
theran preachers in the United States numbered about 120; 
now (1866) they number at least 1500 — a large increase in less 
than fifty years. As the introduction of English had been op- 
posed in many congregations, so efiforts were now made to pre- 
vent the formation of new Synods, because it was thought that 
one large Synod was better for the general welfare of the 
Church than many small Synods. Concentration is by all 
means desirable ; but it finally became evident that the poor 
preachers who lived at a great distance could not be expected 
to travel several hundred miles each year to attend the synod- 
ical meetings. As early as 1814 the preachers in Ohio and 
some western counties of Pennsylvania formed a Conference 



19 

District, and in 1817 a Synod was organized in that district. 
Not long after the Maryland, West Pennsylvania and other 
Synods were formed, and so it went on until we number more 
than forty Lutheran Synods in the United States, Thus from 
one extreme to the other ; formerly the number of Synods was 
too small, now we have more than necessary. 

In reference to the education of young men for the minis- 
try a change was also effected in our Church about this time. 
Formerly several of the older and more gifted preachers in- 
structed one or more young men, and educated them for the 
ministry as well as circumstances permitted.* But now the 
establishment of Theological Seminaries was begun. Hartwig 
Seminary in New York was the first Lutheran school of the 
prophets in this country ; in Gettysburg, Springfield, etc., sim- 
ilar institutions were founded, until it is with the seminaries as 
with the Synods — we have almost too many. 

At York I was appointed traveling preacher to visit the 
northwestern districts of Pennsylvania, and especially to preach 
in Crawford and Erie counties. The appointment was for 
three months, the salary was fixed at $100 ; what the preacher 
could not collect was paid from the Synodical treasury. Our 
missionary work to-day is not what it should be ; but at that 
time it was even more imperfect. After I had already started 
on my journey I was told by one of our preachers that Mr. 
Heine had resigned in Lehigh county, and no one had yet ap- 
plied to be his successor ; at the same time he advised me to 
try to get the place. I visited Mr. Heine, and was kindly re- 
ceived by him. He did what he could to bring the people to 
favor me. In the course of the week Bro. Trumbauer also 
came to Lehigh county to take charge of the vacant congre- 
gations. We preached our trial sermons, and the Church 
councils met to decide which of us should receive the place. 
But they could not agree ; two of the congregations wanted to 
have Bro. Trumbauer, and two voted for me. Under these 
circumstances we both went away, Bro. Trumbauer to Lan- 



*How much depended upon circumstances is shown by the MSS. diary 
of a etudent whose teacher was almost daily hindered from teaching by pas- 
toral duties. 



20 

caster county, and I to Meadville and Erie. But, alas! in the 
wealthy congregations there was strife and dissension for years. 
In the Lehigh congregation (Macungie) the following rea- 
sons were given, why the people were opposed to me : They 
had learned that I had recently arrived from Germany ; but 
they wanted no German preacher. Secondly, instead of an- 
nouncing my text immediately after the pulpit prayer, I had 
a brief exordium, and read the text after that. To this the 
people were not accustomed ; they thought the young preacher 
had forgotten his text until he was almost in the middle of his 
sermon. Finally, as the Gottingen students in accordance 
with ancient Germanic custom wore their hair long and parted 
in the middle, I had also retained this fashion. At this the 
people took offence. What trifling circumstances can give 
our lives a different course! Since that time I have always 
advised vacant congregations to invite only one preacher, and 
then to decide whether they wish him or not. 

From the Lehigh congregation I continued my journey, 
and went through Orwigsburg toward Sunbury. The region 
where the larg© town of Pottsville now is, was at that time a 
wilderness, the home of snakes and vermin ; but through hu- 
man industry this wilderness has become a park. In Sunbury 
I was very hospitably entertained by Pastor Schindel. After 
I had rested for a day. Pastor Schindel accompanied me the 
next morning to the river where the ferry was, paid my fare, 
and wished me success and blessing on my first missionary 
journey. In the evening I stopped with Father Hgen, who 
lived in Center county. Farther toward the Northwest no Lu- 
theran preacher lived at that time ; I therefore now found my- 
self on the borders of Lutheranism in this direction. Father 
Ilgen appeared to me like Nathanael, without guile. Before 
we went to bed, evening-service was held, and I was requested 
to ofifer the evening prayer. When Pastor Ilgen moved into 
this district no doctor was to be found near or far ; for this rea- 
son he had medicines sent him from Halle, prepared in the 
Francke Institutions. In case of sickness, the neighbors call- 
ed upon the pastor, so that by and by he had much to do as 
doctor. But during the War of 1812-15 he could not order 



21 

medicines from Halle, and his doctoring ended. About this 
time occurred tlie following incident which Pastor Ilgen himself 
related to me : One Sunday morning after he had preached in a 
filial congregation he visited a sick lady, who was very glad to 
see her pastor. "Oh," she said, "if I get medicine from you, I 
will surely get well." Mr. Ilgen told the lady that his medi- 
cines were all used, etc. But the woman was not satisfied ; she 
insisted that he hunt, perhaps something might be left after 
all. During this conversation Father Ilgen stood by the bed- 
side, with one hand in his coat pocket, and he found some bread 
crumbs ; he thought : it can do her no harm, pressed the crumbs 
and rolled them with his fingers and gave them to the woman 
as pills. She soon after grew well again, and her recovery 
was ascribed to the pills, which consisted of flour and water. 

After I left Pastor Ilgen it was not long before I entered 
the primeval forests of Pennsylvania. One day I had to ride 
thirty miles before I came to a house ; this was on a new road 
then recently laid out by the state, and only lately opened m 
Clearfield county. In the evening I reached a hut built oi 
round logs, where three bachelor brothers had put up their 
home removed from the world. But it soon appeared that 
singing and praying was not their main occupation. Like 
Nimrod, they were mighty hunters before the Lord. All 
travellers passing that way had to stay with these hunters or 
spend the night under the open sky in the pine forest. When 
1 arrived, late in the evening, live travellers had already arrived, 
eaten their supper, and left not even a piece of bread. Of ven- 
ison there was no lack, and there was also a little flour in the 
barrel. Several handfuls of this were made into a dough and 
laid on the coals, so that the outside was burnt, but the dough 
remained unbaked inside ; these men's old potatoes were eaten 
up long ago, and the new crop had not yet grown. I had thus 
to still my hunger as best I could with venison ; but it did mc 
no harm, I slept well on it, and in the morning was ready to 
continue my journey. Among those spending the night there, 
one who was lying beside me on the straw bed had killed a 
man some days before, and sought to hide himself in this lone- 
ly region. His name was Monk, and about three months later 



22 

he was hanged at Bellefonte. (This I heard on my return trip 
in 1818.) 

One evening on my way through Venango county I had 
to stop with EngHsh people who observed the Christian cus- 
tom of reading, singing, and praying together. They were 
glad to see a preacher in their midst, and asked me to conduct 
the family worship. Read and speak English I could well 
enough, but I had never yet learned to pray in this language, 
and did not know that there is a great difference between the 
ordinary language of the people and the language of worship. 
The Lord's Prayer I knew by heart, else I would have broken 
down completely. I had almost the same experience as the 
well-known preacher John Newton, who broke down in his 
hrst sermon, and the second time when he attempted to read 
his sermon fared not much better ; for he was veiy near-sighted. 
For a long time he would not venture to mount the pulpit 
again. I was very much discouraged and thought to myself : 
this first unsuccessful attempt to pray in English shall also be 
my last. But man proposes and God disposes; some months 
later I had to attempt even to preach English. 

At the time when I was on my first missionary journey 
(18 1 7), there was no longer any danger to fear from hostile 
Indians in Pennsylvania. This I well knew. Still I was not 
quite comfortable when I altogether unexpectedly met a num- 
ber of these inhabitants of the forest near the Alleghany river. 
The sun was setting when I reached the eastern side of the river ; 
for a distance of twenty miles I had not met a house during 
the afternoon. On the opposite bank stood a hut, in which 
lived the ferryman. I called as loudly as I could, but received 
no answer. At some distance up stream I heard people in the 
Inishes, but of them also none paid any attention to my cries, 
and it almost seemed that rider and horse must camp uncared- 
for under the open sky. Finally in the dusk of evening I saw 
a boat moving, which to my astonishment was rowed by two 
Indians. They did not rightly know how to handle the shal- 
low ferry, and as we could make ourselves understood to each 
other only by signs, it took longer than usual to get the horse 
safely on board. When we were on the point of pushing ofT from 



23 

land a white man arrived in a boat, spran|S^ into the ferry, and 
with dreadful curses drove the Indians away. A part of the 
tribe known as the Corn-planters had been in the neighbor- 
hood for several weeks hunting and fishing. For various rea- 
sons this did not seem right to the old Irishman, and he 
thought they now also wanted to deprive him of the ferry mo- 
ney ; this was why he was so angry. The next morning I was 
glad to leave the old curser and toper as well as the neiglibor- 
hood of the Indians. On this day I reached Crawford county, 
where near the road I saw one of those old block-houses which 
served the earlv settlers as places of refuge or forts during hos- 
tile attacks bv the Indians. The building was of fair size, but 
had only one door and no windows at all. either below or 
above. The upper story was larger than the lower, extending 
ten feet on each side. This extension enabled the men within 
to shoot down upon the Indians who might come near to set 
fire to the house, or even to pour water upon a fire already 
kindled. Such a building probably no longer exists in Penn- 
sylvania. 

The first Lutheran family I met in Crawford county lived 
on Sugar Creek, four or five miles south of Meadville. They 
had not heard a German sermon in a Ions' time, and requested 
me to announce services to be held in the court house on the 
following Sunday. From these people I learned the following 
information concerning the affairs of our Church in that region. 
A rogue named Muckenhaupt had at first come among the set- 
tlers as a preacher, but he could not stay very long; he went 
away leaving his wife and children uncared for. It was still 
said of this vagabond that he could preach more powerfully, 
drink more, and curse more loudly than any one else within a 
hundred miles. The first regularly called Lutheran preacher 
in the district was Pastor Colson. His parish consisted of four 
small congregations; namely, in Meadville, on Connaught 
Lake, on French Creek, and in Erie county. His salary was 
S400. The travelling expenses of his family from Northamp- 
ton county to Meadville, and the expense of moving his house-" 
hold efi'ects were to be paid by the congregations. Two teams 



24 

with four horses each were sent ; the expense reckoned on was 
about $80. But the journey proved very slow. The team- 
sters were delayed by rain, impassable roads, and high water, 
and when settlement was made the congregations had to pay 
instead of $80, more than $300. This caused dissatisfaction 
among the members. Pastor Colson did what he could to 
tend the flock entrusted to him. The spirit was willing, btit 
his bodily strength was unequal to the task of serving a parish 
extending forty miles. Before a year was past the death of 
iheir pastor again left the congregations vacant. 

Under these circumstances those church members who at 
other times were most zealous became disheartened, and no 
attempt was made to call another pastor. My arrival was alto- 
gether unexpected ; they rejoiced, but did not know at first 
whether they could support a preacher. But after I had 
preached in the congregations new life and new zeal were man- 
ilfested. Before my time as travelling preacher had expired 
they requested me to remain, and the four congregations unan- 
imously called me as their pastor. In th^ Erie congregation I 
preached in a school-house ; the congregation on French Creek 
built a small frame Church ; in Meadville we held our meetings 
m the court-house, and on Connaught Lake John Braun had 
the largest house at that time : we were kindly welcomed by 
him, not only for Sunday services, but in winter also for hold- 
mg a school in his house. 

Among the attendants at French Creek there were several 
families entirely unacquainted with the German language. 
They had formerly lived in a place where they could attend 
Church regularl}-, as they had been accustomed to do from 
their youth. These people so urgently and persistently re- 
quested me to preach to them in English for their instruction 
and edification, that I finally had to consent and make the at- 
tempt. This apparently slight circumstance I now regard as 
one of the important turning points of my life ; for my future 
work must necessarily have taken an altogether different course 
:f I had not been able to preach in both languages. 

Of the many errorists who since that time have spread 
over almost the entire country nothing was then known in 



25 

Crawford and Erie counties. The young people gladly at- 
tended instructions. In the spring of 1818 thirty-five cate- 
chumens renewed their baptismal vows ; all of them had mem- 
orized the five parts of the Catechism, and were thoroughly 
acquainted with the order of salvation. In the meantime the 
temporal affairs of the congregations were not neglected. In 
order to enable them to buy forty acres of land with house and 
barn, the following plan was adopted : The women of the four 
congregations formed a society ; each member obligated her- 
self to contribute monthly the value of one pound of butter. 
The usual price of butter was twelve cents a pound. Since 
ihere were at least a hundred women in the congregations the 
neat sum of $150 could in this way be collected annually. 

In 18 18 the Synod of Pennsylvania met in Harrisburg, 
where the Rev. Dr. G. Lochmann was pastor. The distance 
from Meadville was more than two hundred miles, and the 
journey was tedious and difficult because of the great rains. 
Southeast of Franklin, in Clarion county, I came to the Tobys 
Creek ; the banks were flooded on both sides, and here there 
was neither white man nor Indian to take me across. I had 
either to turn back or swim. Although entirely unskilled m 
such arts, I chose the latter alternative, and landed safely on 
the other side, — for which I had to thank God and the good 
swimmer on which I sat more than my own foresight or skill. 
J did not reach Harrisburg until Sunday ; in time, however, to 
attend the morning service. 

The Lutheran preachers at that time living in Maryland, 
and their congregations, still belonged to the Mother Synod of 
Pennsylvania. The vacant congregation in Cumberland, Md., 
had sent a petition to the Synod that it be again supplied with 
^ preacher. When the matter came to be talked over in the 
Ministerium and the petition was read, it appeared that the 
congregation wanted to have preaching in both languages. 
But among the members of the Ministerium there were com- 
paratively few who could preach in both, and of those few none 
was inclined to accept the call to Cumberland. From my diary 
which as a candidate I had handed to the Synod for examina- 
tion it became known that I had made several English addresses 



26 

without failure. The result was that the young candidate was 
appointed to answer the petition from Cumberland in person, 
and, if no special hindrances existed, to take charge of the con- 
gregation. For the congregations in Crawford county an- 
other preacher was then to be appointed. 

Cumberland is peculiarly situated on the Potomac River 
and Will's Creek ; surrounded by hills and mountains on all 
sides, the traveler does not see the city until he comes quite 
near. In the eastern portion of the town on the right side of 
the road stood an old two-story block-house ; the upper win- 
dows were boarded shut ; at one gable-end two long beams 
were fastened, and between them hung an uncovered bell. The 
whole had a repulsive appearance, and when I was told that this 
was the Lutheran Church, I could form no favorable impres- 
sion of the congregation. But, in spite of this, the Lord had 
an important field of labor for me here ; a door was opened for 
me, and I labored with blessing in Cumberland and the sur- 
rounding country for six years. The Church building had 
been begun more than twenty years before. The first Luth- 
eran preacher who preached here occasionally was Friederich 
Lang, who lived in Somerset, Pa. After him Pastor J. G. But- 
ler, grandfather of the Rev. J. G. Butler, of Washington, D. C, 
was called. The congregation had now been without a 
preacher since 1815, and was thus falling into ruins. Judging 
from what I heard from the people, Father Butler (personally 
I did not know him) must have been a believing pastor who in- 
sisted upon repentance and conversion. But on the other 
hand he seems to have been somewhat dictatorial and unbend- 
ing, so that he was not popular; when finally the weakness of 
old age was added, and he could no longer attend to his pas- 
toral duties, the congregations wasted away. At the last cele- 
bration of the Holy Communion before his death only five 
persons communed. As far as men could see, the Lutheran 
congregation in Cumberland was dead. But the Lord found 
ways and means to gather the small fiock again. Here also 
the saying held true : 

"Gottes Wort und Luther's Lehr 
Vergehet nun und nimmer mehr." 



27 

One of those whom Pastor Butler had confirmed, Mar- 
tin Rizer, was a tool in the hands of God to give new energy to 
our Church in that district. He regarded it his duty to keep 
holy the Sabbath, and on Sunday to go where believing Chris- 
tians assembled in the Name of the Lord Jesus. After the Lu- 
theran congregation was without a preacher, he frequently 
went to the Methodist Church, but without intending to be- 
come unfaithful to his own Church. But the proselyters were 
not satisfied that Martin Rizer simply attended their meetings ; 
they thought he should renounce his Lutheranism, and become 
a Methodist. A local preacher usually called Father Hen- 
drickson spoke to him as follows one day : "Martin, I see you 
attend our meetings regularly, but you ought to join our 
Church entirely." 

"Father Hendrickson," Martin replied, "I am a member 
of the Christian Church, and belong to the Lutheran congrega- 
tion ; I consider it entirely unnecessary to join any other." 

"But," said Father Hendrickson, "the Lutheran congre- 
gation is in a bad way ; the few cold name-Christians who call 
themselves Lutherans will not be able to maintain the congre- 
gation ; you are a converted Christian ; we would like to have 

you." 

"Lo," answered the Lutheran deacon, "there you sin against 
the tenth Commandment, which says: Thou shalt not covet. 
Father Hendrickson, let us consider this matter aright. Sup- 
pose that in one house there were two rooms full of people, and 
in one there were twelve lights, in the other only one. Now 
some one comes from the brightly lighted room to take away 
the one light, and place it in his room. Would not the people 
in the one room be left in total darkness, and those in the other 
would not know they had more light than before? Could you 
call this well done?" 

The old preacher was beaten ; he clapped the man on the 
shoulder and said : "I understand what you are driving at ; you 
are right. Stay where you are, and let your light shine where 
the Lord your God has placed you." 

Soon after this conversation, Mr. Rizer, to his great joy, 
learned that the Lord Jesus had through his Holy Spirit awak- 



28 

ened four fathers of families, four of the cold Lutheran name- 
Christians, and had called to them: "Return, ye backsliding 
children, and I will heal your backslidings." Jer. 3 : 22. Each 
of the four, John Sailer, Joseph Belong, John Schuck and Ja- 
cob Riissel, had taken the call to heart ; they answered unani- 
mously: "Behold, we come unto Thee, for Thou art the Lord 
our God." For many years the people who had thus been 
awakened had immediately joined the Methodist congrega- 
tion. But the above named four took refuge with the Luth- 
eran deacon, Martin Rizer, and held meetings and prayer-meet- 
ings alone as members of the Lutheran Church. They praised 
God with gladness and singleness of heart, and found favor 
among all the people. And the Lord added to the congrega- 
tion daily such as were saved. Now, too, the desire arose in 
all to call a Lutheran pastor, and to this end they had petitioned 
the Synod of Pennsylvania which met in Harrisburg that year. 

In this condition I found the congregation at my first ar- 
rival. There were among the people many souls longing for 
salvation, who desired the pure milk of the Gospel, and in 
whom the marks of a lamb of Jesus could readily be recognized ; 
for they heard the voice of the good Shepherd, they followed 
Him, and from strangers they fied away. Bvit without a shep- 
herd ordained by the Holy Ghost they would not long have re- 
mained unharmed by the wolves and men who speak perverted 
doctrines, who draw disciples to themselves. This convic- 
tion, together with other circumstances, induced me to accept 
the call. After I had preached in Cumberland and in two 
country congregations we came to an agreement, and I prom- 
ised to return as soon as I had set in order my affairs in Craw- 
tord county, and to make my home in Cumberland. 

That my former congregations would not be satisfied with 
the proposed change I well knew. But the prospect of being 
able to call a successor before long pacified them, and Pastor 
Rupert was ready to take the place soon after I left. Before I 
left Meadville my salary was duly paid. Amid wishes of suc- 
cess and blessing we took leave of each other. In i860, when 
I lived in St. Paul, Minn., I quite unexpectedly received a 
friendly letter from Crawford county, written by George Peifer 



29 

and Israel Berlin, who in 1818 were already zealous members of 
the Lutheran Church. They gave me the gratifying assurance 
that after forty-two years I was still held in kind remembrance 
by the old inhabitants of that district. 

Herr Jesu, stehe Du uns bei 

Mit Deiner Gnadenhand, 
Und fiihre uns hinauf 

In's rechte Vaterland ! 

If our Lutheran deacon Martin Rizer had not remained 
faithful to his Church when he was expected to renounce his 
Lutheranism and become a Methodist, we would in all prob- 
ability have no English Lutheran congregation in Cumberland, 
Md., to-day. Had Martin Rizer joined the sectarians, the men 
who at that time were awakened would have done the same, and 
our small flock would have been scattered. Brother Rizer had 
exceptional gifts in exhorting, and singing, and praying, as also 
m visiting the sick ; he was a great help to the young inexperi- 
enced preacher. Because of the office he honored the preacher, 
and instead of seeking his own honor he always exerted himself 
to uphold the influence and respect of the preacher among the 
people, and to advance the interests of the congregation. 
Preacher and deacon walked hand in hand, and the Lord bless- 
ed and prospered their eflforts. 

My English sermons at first attracted no special attention 
am.ong the people. The proselyters harbored no fear that 
the little German preacher would put a stop to their sheep-steal- 
ing. But gradually, as through diligence and practice I at- 
tained greater proficiency, the audiences increased ; the people 
were curious to hear the strange preacher; the crowds came to 
us. At three different communions I confirmed after due in- 
struction eighty new members. Now the people said: The 
light is removed from the place in which it formerly stood. All 
the machinery of the sectarians was set in motion to hurt us. 
Class meetings and camp-meetings were held, and great efforts 
were made to entice away our sheep and lambs. A few weak, 
inconstant persons permitted themselves to be led astray, but 
in the main our envious neighbors could accomplish little or 



30 

nothing, for the Lord had set them a Hmit : "So far, and no far- 
ther." Built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Pro- 
phets, Jesus Christ Himself being the corner-stone, our con- 
gregation grew into a holy temple unto the Lord. 

The old Church was finally completed ; a new pulpit and a 
tower in proportion with the building on the south side, gave 
the place a more churchly appearance than it had in 1818. Out 
of love to the children in the congregations we felt constrained 
to establish a Sunday School, the first of its kind in Alleghany 
County, Md. Among the scholars was a hearty little boy nam- 
ed Peter Rizer, who in time became preacher in the German 
Lutheran congregation of Cumberland. During his pastorate 
the congregation built a beautiful large Church in which Pas- 
tor G. H. Vosseler now preaches. Until my fourteenth year I 
was entirely unacquainted with the English language, and 
Brother Rizer was still older when he began to learn German. 
Yet the Lord so brought things about that Bro. Rizer had to 
preach in Cumberland in German only and I in English only, 
in accordance with our calls. 

The annual meeting of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania 
in 1819 was held in Lancaster. At this time I with several 
other candidates was ordained, after having been a candidate 
for two years. The Synod requested me to visit some districts 
in Kentucky and Indiana, and to provide our brethren in the 
faith with Word and Sacraments. But to this I could consent 
only on condition that during my absence the congregations 
in and near Cumberland be served by the preachers livitig 
nearest. Pastors A. Reck, of Winchester, C. P. Krauth, of 
Shepherdstown, and B. Kurtz, of Hagerstown, undertook to 
preach for me. These brethren were at that time in their best 
years, and the congregation in Cumberland in this way became 
acquainted with some of the best English Lutheran preachers. 
The congregation at that time still used Watt's collection of 
hymns, which furnished Brother Krauth occasion to remark 
jokingly when he preached in Cumberland: "It seems I shall 
to-day sing Presbyterian and preach Lutheran." 

At first we had only two country congregations, and to 
save expense I kept no horse, but travelled about on foot. 



31 

Gradually my parish grew larger and larger and the journeys 
on foot became too wearisome. Once it happened that I spent 
the whole night in a hilly country under the open sky. As is 
related of the Patriarch Jacob so did I also : I took a stone and 
put it for my pillow, and lay down in that place to sleep. But 
the ladder reaching to heaven I did not see, for I was too tired 
with walking and slept without dreaming. Not long after this 
I received a horse with saddle and bridle as a gift from some 
Christian friends. Now the field of my labors grew still more 
until I had to travel over a district 80 miles long and 30 miles 
wide. Ten Lutheran preachers now live in the district 
where at that time I alone was episcopus regionarius. I spent 
three months on my missionary journey to Kentucky and In- 
diana; in July I left Cumberland and at the end of October I 
was again at home with my dear family. In the state of Ken- 
tucky I found Lutheran families in Boone, Jefferson and Nelson 
counties ; in Indiana I visited Harrison, Boyd and Jeflferson 
counties, and preached to our brethren in the faith who lived 
there. The small tracts, 500 of which I had taken along for 
distribution, were carefully read by many people, and I hope 
proved a blessing to many. 

Louisville was at that time already quite an important 
town ; among the residents, however, I found few belonging to 
our Church. But none the less an appointment was made that 
I should preach in the Presbyterian Church on Wednesday 
evening. On the preceding Sunday I was in Jefferson county, 
thirteen miles from Louisville ; and this distance I could easily 
ride on Wednesday afternoon. The time came and brought 
storm and wind. In the pleasantest weather I had expecteci 
only a small audience, and now I thought none at all would 
come ; thus I was induced to stay where it was dry. But what 
happened? Toward evening it cleared, the full moon rose, and 
the evening was pleasant. The Church, as I afterward heard, 
was filled, but no preacher came, and the people had to go 
home without a sermon. I was very sorry, and resolved nevei 
again to permit unfavorable weather to hinder me, but always 
to be at the place where services were announced at the time ap- 



32 

pointed. For the last forty-five years I have kept the resolu- 
tion. 

There is another circumstance connected with this mis- 
sionary journey which I have not forgotten. Some good 
friends informed me that in many western districts no good 
drinking water could be found, and thought that in order to 
avoid evil consequences I must drink brandy with the water. 
This was contrary to my views and principles. From boyhood 
I had abstained from the use of brandy, etc. This I had done 
upon the advice of a reverend old man, ^^2 years of age, named 
Lenkhart. When I took leave of him in 1807 he said: "Dear 
young man, you are going out into the wide world ; beware of 
brandy and other intoxicating drinks, through which so many 
young people ruin both body and soul. I am now ^2 years old 
and have never used such drinks, and if you will do the same 
you will certainly not be sorry if you ever become as old as I 
am." This was a word fitly spoken for me, and this advice re- 
ceived fifty-eight years ago I have followed ever since. To all 
young people I would give the advice: "Go, and do likewise." 
He who is wise looks unto the end, and saves himself as soon 
as he can. In order to prevent the effects of bad drinking wa- 
ter, I took two small bottles of essence of pepperwort, and 
when necessary poured a few drops of this into the water, and 
thus the drinking of bad water did me no harm. 

The condition of the revived Lutheran congregation in 
Cumberland was such that some kind of union with other Chris- 
tian denominations seemed in many respects desirable and even 
necessary. The small number of families belonging to the Re- 
formed, Presbyterian, or Episcopalian Churches were not yet 
able to build Churches, and were inclined to assist the Luther- 
ans rather than the Methodists. The Rev. R. Kennedy, a 
Presbyterian preacher, taught a Latin school during the week, 
and preached in the court house on Sundays, even before T 
moved to Cumberland. But when our Church was completed, 
the arrangement was made that we should preach in it on al- 
ternate Sundays. This explains how it happened that Watt's 
collection of hymns was used in the Lutheran congregation 
tor a time. At the celebration of the Holy Communion both 



33 

preachers generally participated. The members of the Re- 
formed and the Episcopalian Churches also communed with 
us, and a kind of union grew up which was by no means strict- 
ly Lutheran. Circumstances had brought it about ; the union 
existed before we ourselves were entirely in the clear concern- 
ing it. Many thought : 

Let names and eects and factions fall, 
And Jesus Gbrlet to us be all in all. 

As long as I lived in Cumberland no difficulties grew out 
of this arrangement, but it was afterwards shown that the time 
had not yet come of which we read, John lo: i6: "And there shall 
be one fold and one Shepherd." The Presbyterians have since 
built their own Church, so also the Episcopalians ; the old 
members of the Reformed Church the Lord has taken to Him- 
self, and new members are not. 

In the Wellersville congregation, nine miles north of Cum- 
berland, no such conglomeration existed. Father Giese 
preached for the Reformed, and each of us tended to the flock 
entrusted to him. But in the Glades congregation, about 
sixty miles west of Cumberland, where I preached once every 
six or eight weeks, we went a step farther even than in Cum- 
berland. In order to unite the inhabitants of the entire district 
mto one congregation, a Church Council was elected consist- 
ing of two Lutherans, one Reformed, and one Presbyterian. 
The people were satisfied, and as long as I served the congre- 
gation everything went along smoothly. But such things can- 
not last long. I am now a stricter Lutheran than I was then, 
and would not recommend such a procedure ; it might do more 
harm than good. Fortunately, the men elected to the Church 
Council were kind-hearted and reasonable. The Presbyterian 
elder was a son of the well-known New England theologian who 
upheld the strictest Calvinistic views, and after whom the Hop- 
kinsinians were named. But the son, who lived in western 
Maryland, laid no special stress on these doctrines, and 
lived a quiet Christian life. The following incident occurred 
in the fall of 182 1 or 1822, when scarcely any apples had grown 
in Cumberland, but the fruit-trees in the Glades congregation 
had borne plentifully. Mr. Hopkins kindly wished to supply 



34 

my family with apple-butter, and I was to take it with me on 
Monday. I had stayed with a neighbor, and on Sunday evening 
went over to Mr. Hopkins by moonlight. When I came to the 
house I found the family busy paring apples and cooking ap- 
ple-butter, which certainly surprised me. But Mr. H. was not 
at all embarrassed ; he gave me his hand and said : "You will 
think us poor Christians because you find us at this work ; but 
I can give you satisfactory explanation. From sunset on Sat- 
urday to sunset on Sunday is our weekly day of rest. The 
fact is well known to my neighbors that in my family the work 
of the week ends on Saturday evening; on the other hand we 
do on Sunday evening what other conscientious Christians 
would not begin to do until after midnight. I hope you will 
not despise our apple-butter on this account." Another Pres- 
byterian, A. Schmidt by name, a native of Scotland, was more 
Calvinistic than Hopkins, but a zealous church-goer. He 
lived twelve miles from wdiere I preached, but it was not too 
far for him to attend the services regularly. From this small 
congregation three men were afterward called to be Lutheran 
preachers, the brothers A. Weils and S. Weils, and G. Schaef- 
fer. One of these I baptized, and one I confirmed. The Lord 
grant them grace to do the work of evangelical preachers, and 
fight a good fight in the Lord. 

The congregation in Cumberland had for some time been 
increasing so rapidly that we undertook to invite the Synod of 
Maryland to meet in our midst. This happened in September, 
1822, and was a benefit and a blessing to the congregation. 
Among other business transacted by the Synod, the Church 
Constitution, since then recommended by the General Synod, 
was discussed item by item. S. S. Schmucker and B. Kurtz 
took a specially active part in the transactions. The Rev. Dr. 
D. Kurtz, of Baltimore, also was in attendance. He preached 
on Sunday afternoon, and those who had not forgotten the 
mother-tongue listened to him with great attention, and took 
his sermon to heart. It was something new for the people to 
see so many Lutheran preachers together, and the whole Synod 
made a very favorable impression on the city and surrounding 



35 

district. From that time on Lutheranism spread ever more 
and more in Alleghany county. 

Still it is not always sunshine ; days of sorrow also come. 
So it happened in Cumberland. In October, 1822, we were 
visited by the intermittent fever; not a family escaped. In 
the winter it abated somewhat ; but during the summer of 1823 
it raged worse than before. My whole family was sick ; our 
youngest child the Lord took to Himself. For several months 
1 was unable to attend to my duties regularly. Upon the ad-* 
vice of the physican we moved ten or twelve miles from Cum- 
berland into the mountains where people are never attacked 
by this fever. During this epidemic many people made a con- 
tract with the doctors to pay a certain sum annually, for which 
the services of the doctor could be requested at any time when 
some one in the family became sick. 

While I was thus situated, I unexpectedly received an in- 
vitation to preach in Somerset, Pa. Since 1820 Pastor P. 
Schmucker had served the congregation, but now he had mov- 
ed to Ohio. Some time previously the following incident oc- 
curred : Mr. Schmucker was visiting me and preached in the 
evening on I. Tim. 1:15: "This is a faithful saying, and wor- 
thy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to 
save sinners, of whom I am chief." The Presbyterian preacher, 
Mr. Kennedy, was also present. The sermon made no favor- 
able impression ; the people were not satisfied. On the fol- 
lowing Sunday Mr. Kennedy chose the same text ; and a week 
later I felt called upon to preach on the same words again in 
the same Church. In the introduction I related the incident 
that at a celebration of the Lord's Supper three preachers were 
present. When the first preacher read his text at the prepara- 
tory service on Saturday, the other two seemed somewhat em- 
barrassed, for it was the same passage on which they had in- 
tended to preach on Sunday : John i : 29 : "Behold the Lamb 
of God which taketh away the sin of the world." In the prepar- 
atory service the preacher endeavored mainly to direct the at- 
tention of his hearers to the Lamb of God ; "Behold." The 
sermon on Sunday morning treated of the "Lamb of God," 
and in the evening the preacher based his sermon specially on 



36 

the words : "Which taketh away the sin of the world." In this 
way the people heard a rather complete and satisfactory ex- 
planation of the text. The congregation in Cumberland also 
showed no dissatisfaction with having had the opportunity of 
hearing three different preachers on one and the same text. 

Somerset county is a high, mostly unlevel stretch of coun- 
try between Laurel Hill and the Alleghany Mountains. The 
first settlers were mostly of German descent, Lutherans, Re- 
formed and Dunkers. The first regular preacher of our 
Church was Pastor M. Steck, Sr., who as early as 1790, and 
earlier, when he still lived in or near Chambersburg, sought out 
our scattered brethren in the faith in the wilderness where In- 
dians were still to be met with. In 1792 Pastor Steck moved 
to Greensburg, Westmoreland cotmty, and from there also he 
visited Somerset until the small congregations were able to 
call a preacher for themselves. Pastors Lange, Tiedemann, 
Rebenack and P. Schmucker had served the congregations 
before I received the invitation to preach there. Somerset. 
Stoystown, Friedensburg and Samuel's Church constituted the 
parish. In the county-seat, Somerset, it was necessary to 
preach English, but in the other congregations the people 
clung to their German mother-tongue. After I had preached 
in Somerset county for some months while still living in Cum- 
berland, I felt it to be my duty to accept the call of the congre- 
gations, and in the spring of 1824 I moved to Somerset. As I 
had left the people in Meadville in a friendly manner, six 
years before, so now also peace and harmony reigned in the 
Cumberland congregation when I resigned. Some months ago 
I again visited this congregation which is still dear to me, and 
flfter forty years found it in a flourishing condition under the 
pastoral care of the Rev. A. J. WeddelL Some of my former 
members I found still on their earthly pilgrimage and in con- 
nection with the congregation. But Brother Martin (Rizer) 
had entered upon the joy of his Lord some years ago. 

About the time when I moved to Somerset a new sect was 
being formed, which had for its founder a certain Alexander 
Campbell, a native of Scotland. This sect found followers 
among the people of Somerset. The baptism of children, in- 



37 

struction in the catechism, etc., were rejected by them ; im- 
mersion was the main thing with the sectarians ; whoso would 
be saved must into the water. Alexander Campbell originally 
belonged to the Presbyterians ; he had remarkable gifts in dis- 
putation, and made good use of them in increasing his follow- 
ing. He was fond of holding public disputations on Baptism, 
had these printed, and was zealous in selling them. Our peo- 
ple in Somerset became embarrassed, for they were not skilled 
in polemics. It almost seemed as if the entire town would 
soon seek its salvation in the water. Under these circum- 
stances I found myself compelled to defend our Church's doc- 
trines in the pulpit. In announcing that at the next service 
I would preach on Baptism, I remarked : "Our Evangelical Lu- 
theran Church is built on the foundation of the Apostles and 
Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone. 
We recognize neither Pope nor Bishop who has the right to 
prescribe to us or command us ; the Bible contains the divine 
rule and guide of our faith and life. In the Holy Scriptures, 
therefore, we desire to search ; if our former conviction con- 
cerning Baptism is not founded on God's Word, it is our duty 
to change it ; but if we find that the Lutheran doctrine of Bap- 
tism is grounded on the Bible, we will not let ourselves be 
moved to and fro by every wind of doctrine." In the first ser- 
mon the question was treated: Who shall be baptized? An- 
swer : Adult believers and the children of Christian parents. 
The second sermon treated the question of the mode of Bap- 
tism. In the third sermon I intended to speak on the question : 
What gifts or benefits does Baptism confer? But, alas! a week 
after the second sermon on Monday morning at two o'cleck 
the whole town was roused from sleep by an alarm of fire, 
and, lo and behold, our pretty Lutheran Church was in flames. 
By the time the people reached it nothing was left to be saved, 
for it was a frame building, and burned down to the foundation 
walls. How the fire started remains a mystery to this day. 
Many suspected and asserted it must have been started by fol- 
lowers of A. Campbell. This suspicion was strengthened by 
the fact that on Monday while the glowing embers were still 
lying about the place Campbell came to Somerset to refute my 



38 

sermons. But the people were so strongly moved against liis 
proselyting by the loss of their Church that he had to leave 
without accomplishing anything; for only a very few went to 
hear him. On the same day the Church was set afire and 
burned the congregation made preparations for the erection 
of a new brick Church. The corner-stone was laid as soon as 
possible (in 1825). But for various reasons the building did 
not progress as rapidly as had been expected. Under these 
circumstances the Reformed congregation kindly invited us tJ 
use their large Church until we could move into our Lutheran 
Zion. The sect founded by A. Campbell has, as is known, 
since then spread in many portions of the country ; they now 
call themselves Baptists, but are not recognized by the ortho- 
dox Baptists, because they do not agree with them in doctrines 
concerning the ground of faith. In Somerset they are now 
quiet and less pretentious than they formerly were. Whether 
they shall continue as a sect is doubtful ; the future will decide. 

Among the congregations united with Somerset the Fried- 
ens congregation, five miles north of Somerset, became the 
largest and most active. In order to have the pastor in their 
midst this congregation erected a parsonage beside the Church. 
With this country dwelling I was better pleased than with the 
small towns in which I had lived before. 

In 1826 I received an invitation to preach in congrega- 
tions in Washington county, which had long been served by 
Pastor Weigant ; I was also elected, but considered it my duty 
to decline the call. 

The Rev. Dr. Endress ended his earthly pilgrimage in 
1827 ; the congregation in Lancaster called the Rev. J. Becker, 
of Germantown, and Brother Benjamin Keller, of Carlisle, was 
chosen his successor. The congregation in Carlisle called Pas- 
tor Ernst, of Lebanon, but he was unwilling to leave. Quite 
unexpectedly my turn came next ; I was not acquainted with 
any one in Carlisle, and had never preached there. After ma- 
ture deliberation I answered that if the congregation intended 
to invite any other preacher I would advise that he be heard 
first, and voted on. With the return mail the invitation to 
preach was renewed, with the note that no other applicant 



39 

would be voted on, but that after I had preached it was to be 
decided by yes or no whether I should be called as successor 
to Pastor B. Keller or not. 

My first sermon met with little favor, and had the election 
been held the next day I would in all probability not have been 
elected. But in accordance with the agreement previously 
made I had to preach again on Wednesday evening, and this 
time the congregation was so well pleased with me that when 
the election was held no one voted against me. My friends m 
Somerset consented to let me go away, because they believed 
I would improve my circumstances. Candidate Daniel Heilig 
was elected my successor, and I accepted the call to Carlisle. 
An aristocratic spirit was reigning in that town at the time, 
which insisted rigidly on rank and divided the inhabitants into 
higher, middle and lower castes or strata. With all the af- 
fected superiority, however, there was much glaring poverty 
to be found among the people. As a preacher coming from 
the West my appearance in Carlisle attracted no special notice ; 
many were even inclined to look upon me over the left shoul- 
der. To these also belonged Mr. John Ibaugh, preacher 
in the Reformed congregation. The former arrangement had 
been that English services were held alternately one Sunday 
evening in the Lutheran, the next in the Reformed Church. 
Because of the country congregations it was too much for the 
Lutheran preacher to preach in Carlisle every Sunday even- 
ing. But about this time Mr. Ibaugh began to announce ser- 
vices in his Church for every Sunday evening. But it did not last 
long, for many of his own members wished that the previous ar- 
rangement be retained, and he found that on the evenings when 
there was preaching in the Lutheran Church his Church wa.> 
comparatively empty. The following incident may have con- 
tributed somewhat to this result. Mr. Ibaugh had announced 
that he would deliver a series of lectures on the Biblical history 
of the Patriarchs of the Old Testament. Not long before ser- 
mons on this subject had been printed ; one of his hearers took 
this book along to the meeting in order to compare Mr. Ibaugh's 
lectures with it, and, behold, he found a verbal agreement viith 
what was printed in the book. When this became known, Mr. 



40 

Ibaugh was done with biographical lectures, appointed services 
for every two weeks, and even came to hear me preach quite 
regularly. 

It was of benefit to me in many ways that the congregation 
had not expected too much of me at the beginning, for I could 
so much more easily satisfy them, and my sermons were more 
and more favorably received. The young people who were 
growing up in the congregation were also willing to attend 
catechetical instruction and to be received as members of the 
congregation by confirmation. Some of these young people 
belonged to families who had set a time for moving to the 
West, and could not postpone their journey. These were con- 
firmed some weeks earlier than the rest, and admitted to the 
Ilo'y Communion. On this occasion I sought to bring the 
words of the angel I Kings 19: 7, right close to their hearts: 
"Arise and eat, for thou hast a long journey before thee " The 
Lord was with us and manifested His gractious presence in the 
large assembly. But it is not always sunshine ; alongside of 
the gratifying, the preacher also has many unpleasant experi- 
ences to make. The camp-meeting of the Methodists in Cum- 
ber'pnd county was visited by many Church people ; many even 
thought we ought to omit our services and all go to camp- 
meeting. Especially unpleasant was it to see the members of 
the congregation pass by the Church on Sunday mornmg to 
attend the Methodist meeting. On the Sunday when this hap- 
pened nothing was said of it in the sermon ; but cm the follow- 
ing Sunday I preached on 2 Cor. 5: 14: "The love of Christ 
constraineth us." In the first application the question was 
asked : To what sball the love of Christ constrain us as Church 
members? Answer: To do our duty. But the duty of mem- 
bers of a congregation is to appear regularly at the appointed 
time in the public services. They, therefore, err who think 
that the love of Christ constraineth them to attend the camp- 
meetings, especially when services are appointed in their own 
Church. This presentation of truth, which was made earnestly, 
but in a kindly m.anner, was taken to heart by many. A sec- 
ond case in which I found it necessary to use Church discipline 
was the following: A young person had been led astray and 



41 

had transgressed the sixth Commandment ; but gave evidence 
of repentance, promised improvement, and desired again to re- 
ceive the Holy Communion. When the matter came before 
the Church Cdincil all the members were inclined to help the 
fallen rise, and to grant the request, but how this was to be 
done opinions differed. Some thought the promise already- 
given was sufficient ; but I insisted that it should be announced 
publicly before the congregation. The Church Council feared 
this might give offense and occasion scandal. But I by no 
means intended to expose the young person to ihame, but 
merclv to inform the congregation that of those who had been 
confirmed three years before one had strayed from the fold, 
but had now penitently requested to be taken back, and that 
the Church Council had resolved to grant the penitent permis- 
sion to go to Communion again. This announcement was 
made on Sunday morning, but without giving the name of the 
person. Now those who were acquainted with the case could 
know that the matter had come before the Church Council, 
and that the lost one had been restored, and did not appear at 
ilie Lord's Table without permission, and among her friends 
she was not degraded by this notice. The whole matter made 
a deep impression on old and young, and moved many in the 
meeting to tears. 

It was, I believe, in the year 1829 that the congregations 
united with Gettysburg elected and called me as their preacher, 
but not unanimously. My answer was : I pray thee have me 
excused, for I cannot come. The congregation in Carlisle 
vv^as satisfied with me and I with the congregation, and there 
was no reason to make a change. Nevertheless, my pastoral 
work in Carlisle was soon to end. In 1830 I was urgently re- 
quested to undertake an agency to encourage the German pop- 
ulation in Pennsylvania and adjacent states to establish Sunday 
schools in their congregations and neighborhood. My breth- 
ren in the ministry whom I asked for advice were all of the 
opinion that I should not refuse the commission to become the 
i^iildren's advocate and intercessor. With this agency a new 
and important period in my ministry was begun. Since then I 
have been engaged for more than thirty years in establishing 



42 

Sunday schools and new congregations, building Churches 
and working for our Home and Foreign Missionary Societies 
in the heathen world as well as in the West. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The fourth annual session of the EvangeUcal Lutheran 
Synod of West Pennsylvania was held in York, October, 1828. 
At this time I, for the first time, had the honor of being elected 
an officer of a Lutheran Synod. The entire body, including 
the lay-delegates, consisted of forty-four members. In the re- 
port of the official transactions no mention is made of Sunday 
Schools. But at the fifth annual session of this Synod, held 
at Bedford, the delegates to the General Synod were instruct- 
ed to propose the establishment of a general Sunday School 
Society for our Church, and to do everything possible to ac- 
complish this end. In tiie year 1830 I was requested to un- 
dertake the responsible and difficult work of a Sunday School 
agent. The congregation in Carlisle elected as my successor 
Pastor, now Professor and Doctor, C. F. Schafifer, and I start- 
ed on my journey to be the children's advocate and intercessor. 
Without Christian education of the youth Christianity 
cannot long succeed in America, notwithstanding the many 
Churches. So also no congregation can exist and flourish as 
a truly Lutheran congregation without religious schools for 
the children and youth. Only through Christian schools, 
higher and lower, can the Lutheran character of our Church 
be maintained. If these are wanting our Church sinks, and 
the sects gain, as daily experience in change-loving America 
j)uts palpably before our eyes. True, we have many schools 
in this country, but not such as build up soul and heart, but 
rather such as kill them ; largely only institutions for creating 
the skill to cheat or guard against being cheated. Of Chris- 
tian religious instruction scarcely a trace is to be found in the 
public schools ; it is regarded by many as a dangerous thing 
against which the people must be on their guard. This spirit 
gradually also crept into many of our Lutheran congrega- 
tions where Christian day-schools had formerly been main- 
tained, and it was found so much more necessary to establish 
Sunday Schools. That such schools have done much good is 



44 

not to be doubted. But it is a dangerous error when it is 
thought that Sunday Schools are a satisfactory substitute for 
Christian day-schools. No, they are only makeshifts ; they 
are far from filling the great chasm left by Christian public 
or day-schools. Sunday Schools are only small placters on 
large sores. This was by no means so clear to me in 1830 as 
il has since become, or I might perhaps not have accepted the 
agency at all. I do not mean to say, however, that I consider 
Sunday Schools unimportant or altogether unnecessary. By 
no means. Each Church should have one or more Sunday 
Schools under the supervision of the pastor and the Church 
Council, but introduce in them instead of the fabulous tract- 
ates the Holy Scriptures and the Catechism. We have from 
our own experience recognized Sunday Schools as very im- 
portant institutions for the promotion of true piety, and, there- 
fore, consider it our duty to recommend their establishment 
most heartily. But they are not to be considered substitutes 
for Christian day-schools and Sunday instruction of children. 
In the second year of the "Evangelisches Magazin" (1830), 
it is said, among other things, with reference to Sunday 
Schools : "The beautiful old Germ.an custom of singing and 
praying with the children in the school, and giving the Bible 
and Catechism into their hands as text books, is almost uni- 
versally observed in the Sunday Schools. But among the Ger- 
man inhabitants of Pennsylvania little has so far been done in 
this matter of greatest importance for the youth. True, the 
Synod of West Pennsylvania had German Sunday School 
books printed three years ago, and in some congregations 
there are flourishing German schools. The members of va- 
rious Synods who were present at the last General Synod also 
after the adjournment of that body formed themselves into a 
Lutheran Sunday School Union, with the special object of 
promoting the publication of German Sunday School books 
But in spite of this, we must confess, that taken altogether we 
we have done extremely little for this cause. Nowadays only 
too little of the religious spirit of the German forefathers is to 
be found among their descendants. Schools and education 
are in a state of great decay. Great is the band of neglected 



45 

little ones ; great the number of those who are but poorly or 
not at all instructed in the way of salvation. Through the es- 
tablishment of Sunday Schools this evil could to some extent 
be remedied. May the Lord who called the little children to 
Himself, also give them the Kingdom of Heaven, and direct 
the eyes and hearts of all who are able to help, to this sore spot 
in our school and Church affairs, so that they may unhesitar- 
mgly offer their hands to heal it, and that the straying youth 
may be brought to the Shepherd and Bishop of their souls. 

From June, 1830, to December, 183 1, that is for eigh- 
teen months, I served the Church as Sunday School agent. 
The following letters and reports give some information con- 
cerning what was done in this work in that time. 

Extract of a letter from Rev. Mr. Heyer to Prof. 
Schmucker. 

New Berlin, Union county. Pa., Aug. 10, 1830. 

Almost two months have already passed since I began the 
partly pleasant and important, but for many reasons also un- 
pleasant and difificult work of a Sunday School agent. There 
is no lack of difficulties. But God's rod and staff lead over 
steep hills also. This I have experienced, am still experienc- 
ing this work. Perhaps I shall soon see you at Gettysburg, 
and will then be able to report fully of my travels and doings. 
The following brief extract may suffice for the present. 

I have now visited eight different counties, but am not 
finished with my work in any of them. The plan according 
to which I advised congregations to establish their Sunday 
Schools seems to find general approval among our people. So 
far no one has ventured to oppose me directly, either of the 
(Church Councils or of the members of congregations, not even 
in those districts where a refractory spirit was formerly shown. 
Through my efforts so far about a thousand children, in con- 
nection with our congregations, will be brought under the in- 
fluence of Sunday Schools. Eight Lutheran pastors whom I 
have visited and requested to do so, have signed their name? 
as life members of the Sunday School Society, and between 
$20 and $30 has been otherwise promised me for German Sun- 
day School books. But upon the advice of the brethren I have 



4« 

made no effort to collect money in their congregations at pres- 
ent, because it might interfere with the establishment of 
schools. When the schools are once established for a time the 
people will see the necessity of printing books, and the preach- 
ers will then be able to accomplish more in their respective 
congregations. (I have also been most kindly received by the 
Reformed brethren, and assisted in the work by them.) 

Until now almost everything pertaining to the religious 
education of the children has been left to the pastors. But 
anyone who knows the circumstances of the German preachers 
in Pennsylvania, how many congregations almost every one of 
them has to serve, will grant that it is impossible for them 
alone to accomplish everything that is required if the lambs are 
to be rightly tended, if our children are to be brought up m 
the fear and admonition of the Lord. Who can, who will then 
blame the preachers if they lovingly and urgently call to their 
elders and deacons and other congregational members : "Come 
over and help us! The field is white unto the harvest! Up, 
come to the work! Help us that our children grow not up in 
ignorance and licentiousness, and then finally at that day have 
no cause to accuse us before the judgment seat of Jesus. On 
the Lord's Day when you receive the Word of Life offer i*: 
also to the neglected children, to as many of them as you can 
gather about you. Dear brethren and sisters, you who with 
your whole heart desire the salvation of the children, do nor 
be satisfied with praying for it. Join us and give time and 
strength to the good work. Hours on Sunday devoted to this 
work are, indeed, hours of the most beautiful worship." 

Rarely has the helping power of the Lord been more vis- 
ibly manifested in a good work of a public character than in 
the beginning and progress of Sunday Schools. The Lord has 
so far added his blessed increase to the planting and watering 
of this institution. Not until the year 1814 was a serious be- 
ginning made with this work in this Western world ; and yet 
in the year 1830 the American Sunday School Union, after a 
period of sixteen years, numbered 400,000 scholars and 60,000 
teachers, who took active part in this labor of love. 



47 

In a letter of 183 1 are found the following remarks on the 
report to the German Sunday School Union : 

"The last report of this institution of greatest importance 
for our Church contains much interesting information. Mr. 
Heyer, agent of the Society, has unweariedly devoted himself 
to the object of the Society throughout the severe v^inter and 
this spring; he visited the vi^estern part of Pennsylvania and 
several counties of Maryland, established Sunday Schools 
wherever possible, and for this purpose traveled 3187 miles in 
eight months. The Sunday Schools in connection with the 
German Union number 74, the teachers 567, and the pupils 
4890. Thirteen thousand Sunday School books have already 
been printed, and more will soon leave the press. 

In the transactions of the Synod of West Pennsylvania, 
which met at Hagerstown in October, 1832, is found the fol- 
lowing : 

"On Wednesday morning the report of the Sunday School 
Committee was taken up. From this report it appears that a 
new enlarged edition of the German Sunday School Hymn- 
book has been printed during the last Synodical year. The 
collection consists of eighty-five hymns, and is sold for six 
cents a copy." 

In another letter the following report is made : Pastor 
Ruthrauf and his congregations were visited by our Sunday 
School agent last June. Through his exhortations and the ef- 
forts of Mr. Ruthrauf about three hundred children are now 
receiving Christian instruction in Maytown, Mt. Joy, Man- 
heim, and Elizabethtown, the greatest part of whom perhaps 
formerly spent the sacred hours of the Sunday in frivolity and 
idleness. Would that the command of the Lord Jesus: "Feed 
my lambs," might soon be kept in all our congregations. 

On May 26, 1831, I was present at the corner-stone lay- 
ing of the Seminary building at Gettysburg. The speakers of 
the day edified the large audience numbering several thousand 
with appropriate speeches. Pastors Uhlhorn and Reck first 
preached in German, and Pastors SchafTer and Krauth after- 
wards in English. After this part of the ceremonies was closed 
with the singing of an anthem, the assembled crowd went to the 



48 

building- itself, where the corner-stone was laid with the usual 
solemnities by Pastor Heim and my unworthy self. The fol- 
lowing- books and papers were placed in the corner-stone : 

A German Bible, a Lutheran Hymnbook, Luther's Cate- 
chism, the Minutes of the Sessions of the General Synod, the 
Constitution and By-laws of the Seminary, and a document 
containing the nam.es of the Directors and Professors of the 
Seminary, and the names of the architect and the building com- 
mittee. The service was closed with prayer, the singing of 
several stanzas of a hymn, and the bendiction. 

The chief document next to the Bible for a Lutheran Sem- 
inary ought without doubt to be the Augsburg Confession. 
But among the books and papers placed into the corner-stone 
of the Seminary building at Gettysburg the Augsburg Confes- 
sion is not to be found. And since then the true Lutheranism. 
has frequently also not been thoroughly taught and defended 
there. 

On November 13, 1830, I made the following report to an 
officer of our Sunday School Union : 

On October 23 and 24 I visited three congregations in 
Adams county. Rev. H. Gottwalt, pastor. In the Grundeichel 
congregation I became acquainted with several respectable men 
still inspired v/ith a genuine German spirit, who desire and 
seek the good of our Evangelical Church. It Avas a joy to 
them to hear that we are making special efforts to care for the 
lam.bs which God has entrusted to us. The}' also resolved to 
contribute towards the publication of suitable German Sunday 
School books, v/hich, as I have since learned, they also did 
The desire was very earnestly expressed here that a Sunday 
School might be established in this congregation, and the neces- 
sary preparations were made. On Sunday morning services 
were appointed in Bender's Church. This congregation is 
strong and prosperous, as the beautiful brick church readily 
proves. The roomy school house near the church will be very 
convenient for holding Sunday School. After the sermon was 
ended several expressed the desire that this congregation 
should alone undertake the expense of publishing a Sunda>- 
School book. The necessary sum was subscribed. In the at- 



49 

ternoon I preached at the Pine Church. Through the efforts 
of some Christian-minded men a Sunday School had already 
been in existence in this congregation for a year. After the 
close of the service several dollars were contributed toward 
the work of our Society. On October 2j I completed the new 
ABC book intended for our Sunday Schools. On Thursday, 
October 28, I preached in Reiter's school-house, in Perry 
county, on the Blue Mountains, where I had some time before 
exhorted the people to establish a Sunday School. Very 
gratifying it was to me to learn that instead of the forty chil- 
dren expected, between sixty and seventy attended the school. 
On Friday the thought grew upon me to have festival exer- 
cises for the children printed in small books, and a beginning- 
shall be made immediately with a Christmas exercise. 

On Sunday, October 31,1 preached three times in the con- 
gregations of Rev. Mr. Ruthrauf, Sr., in Franklin county. As 
is well known^ Father Ruthrauf is very willing and active m 
everything that can serve to advance the welfare of our Church. 
In the establishment of educational and missionary institu- 
tions Father Ruthrauf certainly has done very much ; in refer- 
ence to Sunday Schools preparations have already been made 
to establish them and to contribute toward the publication of 
German books. It was also gratifying to me to hear that a 
Sunday School is to be started in a district along the Antietm 
mostly inhabited by Dunkers. 

In Mercersburg I was kindly received by the Rev. Mr. 
Diefenbacher, a member of the Reformed Synod. I preached 
on Monday afternoon and evening. The Lutheran congrega- 
tions in this place have been without a preacher for more than 
two years, and if they do not soon receive a pastor it is to be 
feared that the flock will be scattered. After having preach- 
ed in the various congregations during the week I came to the 
home of Rev. W. Jager, in Friend's Cove, Bedford county, on 
Friday, November 5. In order to appreciate this dear brother 
rightly and to form an idea of his activity one must spend some 
time with him and visit his members with him. I preached for 
him every day from Saturday to Wednesday in the vanou-J 
congregations he serves. As the Rev. Mr. Denius, the Re- 



so 

formed preacher in this district, is of the same mind with 
Brother Jager, it will certainly not be the fault of the preachers 
if Sunday Schools are not established in all these conc^reg^ations. 
In the Cove cong^reg^ation one of the deacons handed me $5 
for the printino- of German Sunday school books. In the 
other cong-regations something will also be done toward the 
same purpose. 

In 1830 the West Pennsylvania Synod entrusted the pub- 
lication of the "Evancfelisches Magazin" to a committee of three 
preachers, of which committee the present writer was a mem- 
ber. In the ninth number of the second year (1831) appeared 
the following remarks, which apply also to our time: 

German Sunday Schools and the German Language. 

The readers of the "Evangelisches Magazin" will have seen 
from what has been stated in previous numbers concerning the 
progress of German Sundav Schools, how these Sunday Schools 
at the same time provide for the propagation and retention of 
the German language. Since German day schools are be- 
coming even scarcer, every friend of the rich and vigorotis Ger- 
man language in America, and especially every native German- 
American, must rejoice and consider it of great importance that 
a means exists for retaining the German language in those dis- 
tricts where circumstances make German day schools impos- 
sible. Throuch the vSunday Schools the German house-father 
has the pleasure of knowing that his children learn to read 
German, and are thus enabled to understand the beautiful and 
edifying German books of devotion from which their pious 
forefathers have derived so much edification. New books suit- 
able for children are also constantly being published in Ger- 
man, which lead the children of German parents to walk early 
in the paths of godliness, and to follow in the footsteps of the 
pious forefathers. 

So far four or six such small books have been published, 
and six or eight others will gradually be placed in the hands 
of our dear little ones. A new ABC and spelling book with 
beautiful pictures is also to be published, which we hope will 
be used in the day-schools also, and will thus awaken a new 



51 

love for the German rnother-tongue in the hearts of the Ger- 
man children. 

The editors of the "Evangelisches Magazin" are pleased 
with these pleasant prospects as also with the support which 
the agent of the German Sunday School Union, our dear and 
worthy brother, the Rev. Mr. Heyer, has found in the various 
congregations visited by him. Our prayer to the Lord is, 
that He may crown the efforts of this His servant, and of all 
teachers in our German Sunday schools and the zeal of the 
Sunday School children with His blessing, that much good 
may be accomplished in our beloved German Church through 
the German Sunday School Union to the honor and extension 
of His Kingdom. 

Concerning the condition of our Church in the western 
counties of Pennsylvania I made the following report to one of 
the editors of the "Evangelisches Magazin" in 183 1 : 

In Beaver county, which lies west of Butler county, there 
is, as far as I know, no preacher belonging to our Church. Yet 
congregations could be gathered here, and a pastoral district 
built up if we only had enough skilful traveling preachers and 
the means wherewith to support them. 

Pastor Kugler, a member of the Ohio Synod, serves the 
Lutheran congregations in Mercer county, to the north of 
Beaver. The congregations are still small, and Brother Kug- 
ler is, I believe, the first Lutheran preacher who has settled in 
this district. With the history of our brethren in the faith in 
Crawford and Erie counties I am fairly well acquainted. Since 
1 812 traveling preachers have at various times been sent into 
this district. In 18 15 or 18 16 Pastor Colson decided to accept 
the call of the four congregations then existing. But his stay 
was brief; for in the following year he ended his earthly pil- 
grimage. In the year 1817 I was commissioned by the Synod 
at York to travel over this district. Glad as the people were at 
my coming, most of them still doubted at first whether they 
could support a pastor. But in a few months the people came 
together from near and far, new elders and deacons were in- 
stalled, catechetical instruction was begun, and the congrega- 
tions received a large number of new members. The parish 



52 

at that time consisted of four congregations, of which one was 
in Erie and three in Crawford county. In the same year a 
parsonage with thirty-six acres of land was purchased. My 
successor was Mr. Rupert, who in 1819 moved to the new par- 
sonage. But after two years pastor and people separated, mu- 
tually dissatisfied. Soon after a famous vagabond named 
Muckenhaupt came into these congregations, and carried on 
his work there. A certain Mr. Meyerhofer, who had formerly 
been a Roman Catholic priest and had been admitted on pro- 
bation into the Reformed Synod, then preached for these peo- 
ple for several years, but had no success in gathering them to- 
gether and building up the congregations. Whoever knows 
the happenings in our Church in and around Meadville during 
the last ten years will not be surprised that the people are now 
(183 1) filled with suspicion towards preachers, and have re- 
solved not to take any until they know him pretty well. 

In Venango county lives Pastor Keil, who studied at Get- 
tysburg for a time, and is the first of our preachers to settle in 
this county. The number of Germans in Venango county has 
increased greatly in the last twelve or fifteen years. In 1817 
there was a stretch of road eastward from the town of Franklin 
on which no house was to be found for thirty miles. But in 
that year several German families moved into this wilderness, 
and in 1818 I baptized the first children that were baptized m 
that region. But in the year 183 1 to my astonishment I found 
a nice little congregation where thirteen years before the sound 
of the Guspel was not yet heard. A Sunday School was started 
there last summer. 

In tlic southern part of Venango county, not far from 
Clarion river, stands a beautiful church in which the Reformed 
also have as hare. The Sunday School in this congregation 
had to contend with many difficulties, and it is due especially 
to the persistent efforts of Mr. Kunz that the school was not 
entirely given up. He resolved to superintend the school as 
long as three children beside his own attended. For a time 
when oppostion was at the highest he frequently had a very 
small band of pupils ; but now the school is increasing. When 



53 

I visited the place in spring I found a number of mostly young 
people, of fourteen to eighteen years of age, assembled. 

In the northern part of Armstrong county there are Ger- 
man congregations on the Redbank and on the Mahoning, 
which for a number of years were served by various pastors, 
but now belong to the parish of Pastor Kiel, who preaches at 
ten or twelve different places. In Kittanning, the county-seat 
of Armstrong county, lives Pastor Reichert, who began to 
gather a Lutheran congregation in this town only a few years 
ago, and is now engaged in building a church. In this district 
unfortunate preachers of our Church did more harm than good, 
so that Brother Reichert had much to contend with at first. 
But he has now won the confidence of the people, and the pros- 
pects for our Church are very promising. Brother Reichert 
serves six or eight congregations. 

Among our younger preachers perhaps none has labored 
with greater success and more self-denial than Pastor Schar- 
retts. He gradviated in Carlisle and afterwards studied theoi- 
ogy in York and Gettysburg. Altogether different from many 
young men who think because they have knowledge and gifts 
they are immediately entitled to the best congregations, Mr. 
Scharretts consented to hunt up the scattered members of our 
Church as traveling preacher, and finally resolved to serve some 
small congregations in Indiana county. He soon won the re- 
spect and confidence not only of the German, but also of the 
English inhabitants of that district. They built a beautiful Lu- 
theran Church for him at Blairsville, as also in the town of In- 
diana. Of course the congregations are still comparatively 
weak and his salary small ; so much more honor to him that he 
has refused various invitations from congregations where his 
income would have been far greater, in order that he might 
feed the flock entrusted to him, which in the event of his leav- 
ing could not readily be as well provided for. The prospects 
of our Church certainly were not very promising when Brother 
Scharretts began to work in this neglected district four or five 
years ago. But now the foundation is laid, and if with God's 
help men will build upon it, it cannot be otherwise but that our 



54 

congregations will grow. Much, therefore, depends on our 
sending out men of the right spirit and gifts." 

Now, in 1867, the Lutheran congregation in Blairsville 
has its own preacher, as also that in Indiana. But the great 
hopes we had built upon Brother Scharretts were not alto- 
gether fulfilled ; for this faithful fellow-laborer entered early into 
the joy of his Lord. If I remember rightly it was on Decem- 
31, 1 83 1, that I attended his funeral. 

The seventh annual meeting of the West Pennsylvania 
Synod was held in Indiana, Pa., in October, 183 1 ; the people 
entertained the preachers and delegates most willingly, for it 
was the first time that so many Lutheran preachers met in this 
northwestern part of Pennsylvania. At this time after having 
served the Synod for three years as secretary, I was elected 
praeses, or presiding officer. The officers of the Synod had for- 
merly used the German language in the ordination of candidates. 
But the congregation in Indiana consisted mostly of English- 
speaking members, and the candidates who were to be ordained 
also expressed the desire that the ordination be in English. Bur 
at that time we had no translation of the agcnde of the Penn- 
sylvania Synod ; I was, therefore, charged with this also besides 
my other duties, namely the translation of the form for ordina- 
tion, in which Pastor N. Scharretts assisted me. 

The congregations in and about Somerset sent a document 
to the Synod in which they complained of their preacherles.^ 
and forsaken condition, and expressed the desire to have me 
again as their pastor. The Synod agreed to this, and as the 
continuous traveling in winter is wearisome and difficult, I re- 
solved to give up my agency at the end of the year and accept 
the call to Somerset. 

Of the favorable impression made by the Synod in the 
congregation of Brother Scharretts, he writes as follows : "The 
meeting of the Synod, and the addresses made on that occasion 
have made a very saluary impression on our Church in this 
have made a very salutary impression on our Church in this 

In January, 1832, thanks to God, I was backin good health 
with my family in Somerset county. During my absence since 
1828 the congregations had not grown, but decreased. The 



55 

sectarians made use of this time to do us damage. The con- 
gregation in the town of Somerset was almost completely scat- 
tered. Nothing had been done towards finishing the new 
church. As I left the building in 1828 so I found it again in 

1832. On the church which was burned in 1825 there still 
rested a debt of $500. A bond for this amount had been signed 
by ten of the older members. These now thought that the 
church property must be sold, for they did not want to pay $50 
each. Under these circumstances the few who still remained 
faithful almost lost heart. Still the Lord did not forsake us. 
We have since had cause to sing: 

Gottes Wort und Luther's Lehr 
Vergehet nun und nitnmermehr! 

The old debt was paid and the new church was finished and 
consecrated by the third of June, 1832. This our opponents 
had not expected. But they mocked even yet, and ridiculed, 
saying : A large house, but no people to go into it. The first 
year I preached for the people without receiving a salary ; but I 
worked hard to bring the congregation into fair shape again. 
Many a Sunday I had to ride twenty miles and preach four 
times. In the country congregations, where the sects had not 
come, the work was much easier from the very start. In the 
Samuel's Church, four miles from Somerset, I instructed in the 
Catechism and confirmed at one time sixty-three young per- 
sons. This, as far as I know, is the largest number ever con- 
firmed at one time in any congregation in Somerset county 
The dear brethren, N. Scharretts, J. Martin, and G. A. R.eichert, 
also frequently came to Somerset, and faithfully assisted me in 
bringing the town congregation into order. After several 
years the Lord's House was filled again, and the congregation 
gathered. 

The hope of a union between the Lutheran and Reformed 
congregations many of us had not yet given up in 1832 and 

1833. This appears among other things from the resolutiouo 
of the West Pennsylvania Synod at Hanover, York county, 
1832. The "Evangelisches Magazin of the Lutheran Church 
in North America" was for some years published under the di- 



56 

rection of this Synod. The motion was now made, however, 
and passed, that Mr. Dreyer unite his paper, formerly publish- 
ed in York, with ours, and continue it in Gettysburg in the in- 
terests of the German Church in general and the Lutheran and 
Reformed in particular. In order to recommend this paper 
very highly to the people it is stated : The arrangement made 
is that Mr. Dreyer, who considers himself Evangelical in the 
German sense, i. e. as much Lutheran as Reformed, and has 
not joined the Synod of either Church in America, but attends 
both, shall be chief editor in connection with Dr. Schmucker 
in York and Mr. A. Helfenstein in Baltimore. The paper 
shall bear the following title : "Evangelische Zeitung der luth- 
erischen und reformierten Kirche." So liberal were we at that 
time. But in our day no Lutheran and no Reformed Synod 
would b"e likely to consent to such a proposition, — not even the 
liberal General Synod. During the last twenty years our views 
and opinions have changed considerably. 

The following incident happened in August, 1833. One 
day I visited the Reformed preacher. Pastor Ibeken, in Som- 
erset, and found a young candidate named Floto. newly ar- 
lived from Germany, who was on his way to Westmoreland 
county, intending to apply for some vacant congregation there. 
On the following Sunday I preached in Johnstown ; on Mon- 
day a neighbor came early in the morning and asked Mr. L. 
whether he could give a young man employment in his store. 
The neighbor related that the young man had arrived at his 
house very sad, poor and in distress. Rather than beg he had 
tried work on the canal, and had taken a wheelbarrow to 
haul ground, but fainted, and after he revived was told that 
he could not be used there, etc. I felt compassion for him, and 
went with the neighbor to see what could be done for him. 
Great was my surprise, for when I entered the room I saw the 
young candidate before me whom I had met a few days before 
in Somerset. His surprise was equally great. He looked at 
me with weeping eyes and said: "Tacite! Tacite!" (Say noth- 
ing! Say nothing!) The people looked at us in astonish- 
ment, and thought he had given me a free-mason sign, for I 
said nothing, and for the moment did not know what to say. 



57 

After a few moments we went out to talk together alone. Now 
he told me that his trunk had been sent to Westmoreland 
county, with a teamster ;' but there he could learn nothing of 
either teamster or trunk, and had, therefore, given up hope of 
ever seeing his clothes and books again. Under these circum- 
stances he did not undertake to apply for the congregations, 
for he thought the people would not take him as their preacher, 
he being a stranger with threadbare traveling-coat and torn 
shoes. He intended to earn something by working, in order 
to return to Germany as soon as possible ; now he had failed 
in this also, and he did not know what to do next. I asked him 
to tell me honestly whether before leaving Germany he had not 
done something which exiled him from his native land, and 
of which we would hear sooner or later. His answer was : 
"You can depend upon it that nothing of this kind induced me 
to emigrate to America. I completed my studies regularly and 
honorably; belong to the Evangelical Church of Prussia; my 
father was Reformed, and my mother, born Lichtenstein, was 
born and raised a Lutheran." When I heard the name Licht- 
enstein I asked : "Where was your mother born?" "In Helm- 
stedt." So his mother and I had been neighbors' children and 
playmates. This was for me an additional motive for assist- 
ing the young man. I gave him money to buy shoes, and told 
him the way he must go to find my house. In the course of 
the week his things unexpectedly arrived at Somerset, and now 
he had neat black clothes. He preached on Sunday very ac- 
ceptably. Soon after he visited a vacant congregation in Pres- 
ton county, Virginia, and came to an agreement with the peo- 
ple, and applied to the West Pennsylvania Synod in Mifflins- 
burg for admission. 

From Mififlinsburg he returned to Preston county and 
preached there for a year. Then he grew homesick, and suddenly 
started out to visit the Fatherland, but he had not sufficient 
money to pay traveling expenses. After he had taught school 
for a time he came to Allentown to the Homeopathic Institute, 
and finally studied anatomy in Philadelphia, left the ministry 
and became a practising physician. 



58 

Another incident I might here mention in few words. Af- 
ter the Synodical sermon was preached in Mifflinsburg a young 
man came to me and told me that he had studied theology in 
Germany, and had arrived in America only a few weeks before, 
etc. For admission into the Synod he did not apply. His 
name was Nast, the same who can in many respects be regarded 
the founder of German Methodism in America, and for many 
years has found an extended field of labor in Cincinnati. If 
we had received the young candidate Nast in a more friendly 
and afifectionate manner in Mifflinsburg, he might perhaps have 
remained a member of the Lutheran Church. But — man pro- 
poses and God disposes. 

Christianity shall be spread through Christians. Each 
Christian is called and in duty bound to take active part in the 
spreading of God's Kingdom on earth ; and all Christian 
congregations should try with united powers to spread the 
glad tidings of our Saviour among those who still sit in the 
shadow and darkness of death, as also among those who in the 
western parts of our country live like sheep without a shepherd 
scattered here and there. In this sacred and important matter 
all the Synods of the East and West ought to work together 
in order to keep up our missions among the heathen and to 
cultivate the mission fields in the West. A two-fold wall is 
stronger than a single wall, and a three-fold cord stronger 
than a single cord. Union gives strength. The division which 
has caused so much strife and disunion in our mother church 
is to be lamented ; the harm which it has caused is unspeakably 
great. The God of peace have mercy on His quarreling chil- 
dren! 



CHAPTER V. 

In October, 1835, I was appointed Agent for Home Mis- 
sions for five years by the Central Missionary Society.* Ac- 
cordingly in December (27th), 1835, I for the second time badi 
the congregations in and around Somerset farewell, after hav- 
ing again served them with success for four years. After the 
farewell sermon the Church officers came to me and again 
requested me to change my resolution if it were possible and 
remain with them. In the afternoon the remark was made in 
the family : We are now moving away from here against the 
will of the people the second time, and may not think of ever 
again making our home in this parish. My answer was : The 
Lord's will be done. Just then I took up a Bible, and as I 
opened it I incidentally saw the passage, 2 Cor. 12: 14: "Be- 
hold, the third time I am ready to come unto you." After an 
absence of more than twenty-five years this has also been ful- 
filled. I again live in Somerset, and intend, if the Lord will, 
to spend the evening of my life here in quietness. 

Between Christmas and New Year (Wednesday, Dec. 30) 
I started on the journey to the far West, Two good friends, 
F. Gebhart and J. L. Snyder, deacons in the Somerset con- 
gregation, accompanied me for eight miles to the foot of 
Laurel Mountain, where we spent the night with J. Gebhart, 
at that time Treasurer of the State of Pennsylvania. On the next 
morning my companions returned eastward to Somerset, and 
I went on my way alone to the far West. In Wheeling I met 
a steamer w^hich was on the point of leaving. In this way I 
reached Cincinnati speedily and comfortably. About twelve 
miles from Cincinnati, in Kentucky, lived Pastor Crigler, for- 
merly my neighbor and faithful co-worker in Somerset county. 
After a separation of several years we had the pleasure of 
meeting again. On Sunday the people gathered from near 

•The letter announcing his appointment, dated November 4, and signed 
by Dr. S. S. Schmucker, Secretary, was printed in the Lutheran Observer, 
December 4, 1835, at Heyer's request, so as to serve as a letter of introduc- 
tion. 



6o 

and far to hear and learn to know a Lutheran preacher. 
Brother Crigler was a faithful pastor who is still kindly remem- 
bered by many, although he entered upon the joy of the 
Lord more than twenty years ago. 

In Indiana but few Lutheran preachers were living at that 
time. Brother Abraham Reck, who, if I am not mistaken, is 
now the oldest of our living preachers, had settled not far from 
Indianapolis. He greeted me with the call: "Come in, thou 
blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest thou without?" We 
were old acquaintances and had been friends in Maryland. 
M)^ short stay was made as comfortable as possible. In 
Henry county I found the old war-hero Lehmanowsky,* who 
after having been engaged in more than a hundred battles un- 
der Napoleon, finally in !iis older years served under the ban- 
ner of the cross of Jesus as Lutheran preacher. Lie had lived 
through much, and could relate much. In his earlier youth 
the good teachings of his pious mother had already made a 
blessed impression on his heart. In 1809 he was present when 
Josephine was divorced from the Emperor Napoleon. A 
young officer asked his opinion of the divorce ; Lehmanowsk\ 
expressed the fear that because of this transaction divine judg- 
ments would come upon the emperor; his friend mocked him, 
and called him a superstitious fool. Some years after when 
Napoleon was forced to abdicate the two friends again met in 
Paris, and he who had been light-hearted and mocking now 
shared the views of Lehmanowsky concerning the emperor's 
divorce in 1809. 

In the battle of Waterloo Lehmanowsky served as adju- 
tant under Marshal Ney. In the afternoon when the Frencli 
began to give way, the marshal sent his adjutant to the em- 
peror to ask for reinforcements. Napoleon answered : "I have 
none to send — the fortune of war, we part!" gave his gray 
horse the spurs, hurried away and abandoned everything. 
Even his gorgeous coach together with valuable documents 
was captured by the Prussians. With the emperor's fall the 
hopes of the Poles fell also. As a foreigner and an adherent 



"Of whom we now have a, biography in the form of a romance: "Under 
Two Captains," by Rev. W. A. Sadtler, Ph. D. 



6i 

of Napoleon, Lchinanovvsky had only sad prospects in France. 
He emigrated, and sought a livelihood in the United States. 
For some time he made a scanty living in Washington as sec- 
retary. During this time he also took active part in establish- 
ing the first German Lutheran congregation in Washington, 
attended various conferences and synods, became acquainted 
with a number of Lutheran preachers, and was finally sent to 
the far West as evangelist by the Maryland Synod, charged 
with the duty of preaching Christ the Crucified. He became 
an active member of the Synod of the West. At last in high 
old age, satiated with life and weary, he prayed: Lord Jesus, 
receive my spirit, and fell asleep (in 1858). 

During my journey through Indiana I became acquainted 
with two other Lutheran preachers, namely. Pastor Miller and 
Eusebius Henkel. Both belonged to a Synod in North Caro- 
lina ; but I was kindly received and affectionately treated by 
them. Most of the members of their congregations had also 
moved to this district from North Carolina. Many of them 
had taken part in the Church controversies which had arisen 
under the leadership of Carl Henkel and others. I had several 
conversations with these people and found that they were quite 
at home in Scripture, well educated and well acquainted with 
the distinctive doctrines of the Lutheran Church. Their 
preachers also testified of them, that they diligently attended 
the public services and led moral lives. 

On a cold Saturday in January, 1836, I reached the left 
or eastern 1j;ink of the Wabash river; on the opposite bank 
lay the town of Mt. Carmel, which had been founded but a 
few years before. The river was greatly swollen and the boat- 
men did not want to risk taking my horse across because of 
the ice-fioes. I myself reached Mt. Carmel in a small boat. 
The host with whom I stopped inuiiediately questioned : 
Where from? Where to? etc. When I told him that I had 
gone out to seek the lost sheep of the house of Israel, he sent 
for a zealous and fairly educated local preacher who after- 
wards entertained me hospitably at his home. In this town, 
as in many other districts, the Methodists had gained the chief 
place; there was none but a Methodist Church in the town. 



62 

No German Lutherans lived in the place, and I therefore con- 
sented to preach in the Methodist Church on Sunday morn- 
ing. The congregation was large, attentive and devout. But 
before the end of the sermon the zealous local preacher became 
so filled with the spirit of joy that to relieve himself somewhat 
he struck his hands together and cried out aloud : "Yes, that 
is the doctrine, that will do the business!" The people may 
have been accustomed to such scenes, for they were not dis- 
turbed by it ; but it almost upset me. 

Westward from Mt. Carmel, in Wabash county, there 
lived several Lutheran and Reformed families, most of whom 
had moved tlicre from Lehigh and Northampton counties in 
Pennsylvania. Among these people there was still a churchly 
spirit; they were not only glad to see a Lutheran preacher 
among them, but were ready to buy eighty acres of public 
land for a church and school^ and to undertake to build a 
church, so that in May when I again came into this district the 
Corner-stone could already be laid.* On this occasion Pastor 
Haverstick was also present, who had been appointed travel- 
ing preacher for some months by the Pennsylvania mother- 
synod. As far as known to me there were at that time but very 
few Lutheran Churches in the State of Illinois. I found one 
frame Church in Hillsboro, Montgomery county, which was 
served by Pastor Scherer, and two block churches in L^nion 
county, not far from Jonesboro. The first Lutheran Church 
in Illinois built of brick was, as far as I know, that in Wabash 
county, of which Pastor Haverstick and I laid the corner- 
stone. Among other things Bro. Haverstick told me how he 
fared in St. Clair county, not far from Belleville. He came 
into a district where a number of Lutheran families lived who 
thought themselves wiser than their neighbors ; for when Pas- 
tor H. offered to preach for them they gave him the 
answer: "We need no priests; over yonder live some ignor- 
ant Germans, they might perhaps be glad if you would come 
to them." I would like to know how these over-wise people 



*April 25, 1836, was the date of the corner-stone laying of the Jordan 
Greek Church. 



liave fared since then, and whether their descendants became 
cliilchen of the same spirit.* 

From Carmel I went southward to Shawneetown on 
the Ohio river. Here I was forced to put up at an ale-house 
with very rough company. Rather than stay with the godless 
people in the house I stayed with the horses and cattle in the 
stable for a time., where I felt more comfortable than in the 
counsel of the ungodly where the scornful sit. From Shaw- 
neetown my way led through a tract at that time uninhabited 
for about a hundred miles, to Jonesboro, Union county.! In 
this southern part of lllinios there were at that time two or 
three small congregations which had previously been visited 
and served by Lutheran preachers. The families in these 
congregations had almost all moved from North Carolina. 
But true unity did not exist among them, and they had been 
unable to keep any preacher long. Two block churches had 
been begun, but not completed ; congregational schools there 
were none ; the youth grew up without instruction, and the 
v.eeds gained the upper hand. My arrival as a Lutheran 
preacher attracted no special attention ; still, the meetings dur- 
ing the week and on Sunday were attended by gradually in- 
creasing numbers ; the scattered flock gathered again, and the 
desire began to grow that the congregations might soon be 
provided with a resident preacher. 

The difference in manner of living l)etween Pennsylva- 
nians and North Carolinans was striking. Among the lattei 
corn and pork were the customary food, garden vegetables 
were little used. The Pennsylvanians on the other hand used 
besides wheat bread also rve, corn and buckwheat bread, veg- 



*A different spirit prevailed in other sections: in Waiiash Co. Rev. 
Heyer found some Germans so staunch in their Lutheranism that "they 
positively declare they cannot receive the Lord's Supper from any minister 
except one who belonps to their church; nor would they be persuaded other- 
wise." Luth. Oteerver, April 15, 1S36. 

JA letter dated Union Co., Illinois, Feibruary 29, 183G, is found in the 
Lutheran Observer, April 15, 1836. In it he writes: "I have not spoken, 
nor do I intend hereafter to say much about the hardships and privations 
which must nc-cessarily be endured by one who undertakes an exjjloring 
agency in the far Vv'cst. It requires an excellent constitution and an en- 
thusiastic zeal to i)ersevere in an undertaking of this kind. You are not 
hence to inter that I am discouraged: no, through the grace of God, I am 
resolved to go on, and hope that much good will reeult from our missionary 
exertions." 



64 

etables in abundance, potatoes and beans, cabbage and turnips, 
and dried fruit ; milk, butter, cheese and honey are also gen- 
erally used by them. Flax and tow is usually spun in Penn- 
sylvania families, cotton in North Carolina families. In 
Union county few people had stoves ; most shifted with open 
fire-places. The draft through the cracks in the walls, through 
windows and doors, was vmpleasant, and, sitting by a great 
fire of logs, one was half-roasted on one side and half-frozen 
on the other. In Wabash county the dwellings were tighter, 
and almost every family was provided with one or more stoves. 
In neither place, however, was there a lack of hospitality ; all 
seemed willing to give of what they had. 

After a stay of several weeks in Union county,* where I 
preached the Gospel and administered the Sacraments on 
week-days and Sundays, I crossed the Mississippi for the first 
time somewhere north of Cape Girardeau, and almost reached 
the Iron Mountains, where the richest iron ore in the world is 
found. In this southeastern section of Missouri there were 
German settlements, but mostly from North Carolina. I be- 
came acquainted with a young candidate (Rev. F. Picker) who 
ministered among the people. He had studied in Halle, the 
congregations were satisfied with him, but he belonged to no 
Synod. Why this young well-educated theologian had as it 
were concealed himself in such a remote district was strange 
and puzzling to me. 

On my return from Missouri in ]\Iarch I saw the people 
living along the Mississippi still engaged in gathering and 
hauling their corn. When I asked why they had not done this 
work in fall, the following explanation was given: "In April 
when the ice and snow melt in the North, the IMississippi gen- 
erally rises so high that our low-lying, but most fertile fields 
are under water for weeks. As soon as the land becomes dry 
enough we plant our corn. In June or July we work between 
the rows with a cultivator in order to destroy the weeds. In 
August the intermittent fever begins to rage; in September 
and October almost everybody suffers from this disease, and 
is unable to work in the fields until the winter has brought 



•Cf. Luth. Obs., May 6, aud June 10, 1836. 



65 

recovery; thus it t^ets to be Fel)ruaryor March before we can 
haul our corn home." 1 thought to myself: In such a district 
I would not live, even though the grain brought forth fruit an 
hundred fold. And there were no German farmers living 
among them. 

In April I visited some of the central counties of Illinois. 
When I came to Hillsboro, Montgomery county, I went to 
Pastor Daniel Scherer, and was fraternally welcomed by him. 
Even if not quite the first, Bro. Scherer was certainly one of 
the first Lutheran preachers in the State of Illinois. His mem- 
bers lived in and about Hillsboro, having moved there from 
North Carolina. As far as I could see a churchly spirit pre- 
vailed among these people. They had not only called a pas- 
tor, but also built a church where they assembled diligently to 
make use of the ordained means of grace. In may, 1830, Pas- 
tor D. Scherer had been appointed by the North Carolina 
Synod as missionary to the State of Illinois, but he did not 
reach his destination until July, 183 1. In Union county he 
preached in Friedens and in St. John's Church, and in August 
he visited the brethren in the faith 140 miles farther north in 
Montgomery county. During these tw'o months he preached 
nineteen times, baptized forty-five children and one adult, and 
gave Communion to sixty-two persons. In 1832 he moved 
from North Carolina to Hillsboro, and from there visited the 
scattered members in the various regions of the State. This 
faithful servant of the Lord has for a long time rested from his 
labors, but is still held in grateful remembrance by many. His 
son, F. R. Scherer, is pastor in Iowa, and the brothers Harkey 
and Pastor A. Trimper come from the Hillsboro congregation. 

After I had rested for several days with Bro. Scherer I 
continued my reconnoitering tour northward to Pekin and 
Peoria. Whenever I heard of German settlements while I 
was on my way,* I visited them and supplied them as time 
and circumstances would permit with the Word and Sacra- 



*He seems also to have used a gazetteer, which was not always reJiable. 
He found a place called Germany, four miles northeast of Springfield, .which 
Peek's Illinois Gazetteer stated was se.ttled by Pennsylvania Germans. He 
went there, but found very few Germans, and became acquainted with only 
one German family from Ohio. 



66 

nients. One day I also came into a district where none but 
New Englanders lived, true Yankees (in the good sense of the 
term). They were Congregationalists. I preached for them 
twice, and they expressed the wish that I remain with them as 
their permanent preacher. These people are cjuick and clever 
in adapting themselves to new homes. In this respect they 
excel even the Pennsylvanians. At times I also came to dis- 
tricts inhabited only by recent immigrants. Among theni 
every thing was done differently from what was to be seen 
among the North Carolinans and Pennsylvanians, and among 
the Yankees. One could immediately see from their huts, fences 
and fields that they did not exactly understand working with 
wood. But in spite of the difificulties and privations with 
which they had to contend, most of them were of good cour- 
age. Hope of better times served to encourage them. Man\ 
who had been in the country five or six years already had a 
number of cows, sheep and swine, and a supply of salted and 
smoked meat such as they had never been able to enjoy in the 
father-land. Some asserted that they had made more 
progress here in five years than poor people in Germany made 
in fifty. In respect to church matters there was an important 
difTerence also, depending upon whether they came from North 
or South Germany. In the case of some it was also seen that 
the false illumination had given them a perverted tendenc}-. 
Many of the descendants of these then new settlers now 
Ijelong to the wealthiest inhabitants of the State of Illinois, — 
and I hope many of them are also faithful members of our Lu- 
theran Zion. 

The roads from Peoria to Chicago were at that time not 
passable, and this prevented me from going farther north. In 
the beginning of May I was again in Wabash county, where, 
as has already been stated, the corner-stone of a new Union 
Church was laid. At this corner-stone laying no Reformed 
preacher was present, for none lived in Illinois at that time, 
and there resided in Illinois only one Lutheran preacher be- 
longing to an Evangelical Synod. Now, in 1868, there arc 
more than a hundred preachers connected v^'ith us. In view 
of such an extraordinary increase one might well exclaim : 



67 

Gottes Wort iind Luthers Lehr^ 
Vergehet nun und nimmer mehr. 

From Wabash county, Bro. Haverstick returned to his 
home in Penns}lvania. In June I started for home, and after 
an absence of six months I came home safe and sound to my 
family in Somerset.* How often I preached during this time, 
how many persons I baptized, to how many I gave Commun- 
ion, and how many miles I traveled during this long journey, 
I cannot say from memory, and I can find nothing concerning 
it among my papers. One thing, however, I still know well ; 
namely, that the gracious Father in Heaven protected me ding- 
ing all this time from sickness, harm and danger. To my Lord 
and Saviour be glory and praise for this now and ever. 

From July to November. 1836, I was engaged in work in 
Cambria, Indiana, Clearfield, Huntingdon, etc., counties, v/heve 
at that time many districts were already inhabited by Lutli- 
crans, — but very few preachers among them. As 
many know from experience, the traveling preacher is at 
times received in a very friendly manner, but at times also very 
indifferently Among the zealous and faithful members of our 
Church who were always glad when they were visited by an 
ordained Lutherau preacher, the most eminent was Father 
Gulich,J in Clearfield county. He frequently accompanied me 
when I had announced Church services, to show me the way, 
and to introduce me to the people. He frequently prayed : 
"O Lord, send laborers into Thy harvest." At times he went 
a hundred miles to attend a meeting of Synod ; and then he 
never failed to make an urgent plea for traveling preachers. 
In his family Christian discipline and order prevailed. One 
Monday morning when I came to his home I noticed that m_\' 
purse was gone : but whether I had lost it on Saturday, Sun- 
day or Monday I could not tell, for I had not used it for two 
or three days. Father Giilich and his children thought that 

*Accoiint of hie return journey in Lutheran Observer, June 24, and July 
29, 1836. 

J Who harl been appointed lay-reader by the West Pennsylvania Synod. 
See letter of August 31, 1836, giving account of work in that month in 
Lutheran Observer, September 23, 1836. 



68 

we should go back over the road by which I had come, and 
hunt for the lost purse. I thought one might almost as well 
look for a needle in a hay-stack. In less than an hour the 
oldest son had his horse saddled and rode away. Before even- 
ing he returned and brought purse and money with him ; he 
had found it aljout nine miles from the house on the main 
road. I would gladly have given him some compensation for 
his trouljle, but no, of such a thing parents and children would 
not hear. I afterward sent him a neatly-bound hymn-book, 
of which he made good use. I entertain the hope that Father 
Giilich's descendants still walk in his Christian ways. 

In the course of this summer I also became acquainted 
with other souls eager for salvation, and children of God. In 
general the people attended the meetings on week-days and 
Sundays in large numbers ; the Word of the Cross made a 
strong and deep impression on many hearts. The children 
were brought to Holy Baptism, the adults came to Confession 
and to the Holy Communion ; their souls fainted for the Bread 
of Life. Of course there were also such as had spent years in 
remote regions without Word and Sacraments and were there- 
fore grown wild. 



CHAPTER VI. 

In November, 1836, owing to peculiar circumstances I 
was called to a new field of labor. Efforts had been made at 
various times to establish an English Lutheran congregation 
in Pittsburg; but so far unsuccessfully. The Synod of Wesr 
Pennsylvania at its meeting held in October had resolved to 
make another attempt, and appointed three of its members to 
preach in Pittsburg in rotation. Those thus commissioned 
were N. Scharretts, J. Martin, and C. F. Heyer. In the be- 
ginning of November I unexpectedly came to Bro. Martin at 
Williamsburg. "You come just at the right time," he imme- 
diately said, 'T have just received a letter from Bro. Scharretts 
in which he tells me that he announced services in Pittsburg 
for next Sunday, but being indisposed he cannot undertaive 
the journey, and asks me to go in his place. But it is not 
convenient for me either, for I have announced Holy Com- 
munion for next Sunday, and dare not disappoint the people. 
Thus it comes to your turn, if the undertaking in Pittsburg is 
not to fail in the very beginning." To get further information 
from Bro. Scharretts concerning the appointment made I im- 
mediately set out again across the Allegheny Mountains in a 
snow-storm. At 11 o'clock at night I reached Ebensburg. 
At I o'clock I proceeded farther in the stage ; and at eight in 
the morning I surprised Bro. Scharretts in Indiana by my un- 
expected visit. He was unwell, but able to be up, and we had 
no fear at that time that this promising and gifted young fellow- 
laborer would in a few weeks be called from our midst. My 
stay in Indiana was brief, for in the afternoon I drove back to 
Ebensburg, where I had left my horse ; on Wednesday I was in 
Somerset, where I had business to attend to, and on Saturday 
I arrived in Pittsburg. Mr. G. Weyman, a quiet but Christian 
man, took a specially active part in the establishment of an 
English congregation in Pittsburg. On Sunday morning and 
evening I preached in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 



70 

On the following Tuesday seven or eight heads of families 
came together to discuss what further could and should be 
done to attain our purpose. Among other things it was re- 
solved to accept with thanks the promised assistance of the 
West Pennsylvania Synod. Further, a committee was ap- 
pointed to look for a suitable building where meetings could 
be held in future. All were urged to hunt up the English- 
speaking members of our Church in and around Pittsburg, 
and to encourage them to take part in the establishment of an 
English Lutheran Church. 

Some weeks after this beginning had been made Bro. J. 
Martin went to Pittsburg and preached very acceptably in the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church. When I came to Pitts- 
burg the second time the Unitarian Church, on Smithfield 
street, had been rented for our use for six months. At the 
first meeting in this building a Constitution was proposed, 
adopted and signed by eleven or twelve heads of families. 
Soon after this I received instructions from the Missionary 
Society to remain in Pittsburg, to carry on the work which 
had been begun. Our good Brother Scharretts could take no 
further part, for he was transferred to the Church triumphant 
toward the end of 1836.* On December 30 or 31 I attended 
his funeral. The congregations in Indiana and Blairsvillc, 
which he had built up with much labor and self-denial on the 
foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself 
being the chief corner-stone, are now able each to support a pas- 
tor of their own. The seemingly small beginning in Pittsburg 
has also made blessed progress. The congregation is now 
large and prosperous, and already counts two daughter or sis- 
ter congregations, one in Birmingham and another in Alle- 
gheny. 

The first German Lutheran congregation in Pittsburg was 
also started in January, 1837, under the following circum- 
stances. For a long time there had been a German congrega- 
tion in Pittsburg consisting of Lutherans and Reformed, and 
served alternately by a Lutheran and then for a time by a Re- 



•Biographical sketch by Rev. Heyer in Lutheran Observer, January 13, 
1887. 



71 

formed preacher. Pastor Kemmerer, a member of the Re- 
formed Synod, was its preacher from 1830 to 1837. A large 
majority of the congregation belonged to the Lutheran 
Church. It therefore seemed no more than right that a Luth- 
eran preacher should preach for them occasionally. I ap- 
plied to Pastor Kemmerer asking permission to preach in the 
Church, But quite unexpectedly he informed me that with- 
out the consent of the Church Council he could not let any 
one enter the pulpit in his place. When I asked the Church 
Council I was told it had been resolved that none but the in- 
stalled pastor should conduct services in the congregation. In 
this state of affairs I thought to myself that if Lutherans are 
thus to be cut off from the opportunity of hearing a preacher 
of their Confession, I must try to serve my brethren in the 
faith elsewhere. 

In the course of the following week the announcement- 
was made that on the next Sunday afternoon German services 
would be held in the rented church. At the time appointed 
a considerable number of attentive and devout hearers was 
present. After the service it was resolved to establish a Ger- 
man Lutheran congregation, and the names of those willing t*"* 
join it were noted. Two weeks later a constitution was 
adopted and church officers were elected. Thus with God's 
help an English and a German Lutheran congregation were 
started. After six months, however, both congregations be- 
came somewhat embarrassed, for the Unitarians had called a 
preacher, and we could no longer rent their building. For a 
time we had to use a school-house ; then we obtained permis- 
sion to use the old court-house. Finally we felt that if eacli 
congregation was to continue and grow, it must have services 
every Sunday, and in the forenoon. To make this possible 
the Missionary Society appointed one of our most able young 
preachers. Candidate E. Frey, to take charge of the English 
congregation. He came to Pittsburg, but had to leave us 
again after a short time because the sulphurous gas or thick 
smoke of the coal developed the beginnings of rheumatic gout 
in him. The dear brother had to suffer much from this dis- 
ease later, and finally lost the use of his limbs entirely, and for 



72' 

years has had to spend most of his time in a wheel-chair. 
Soon after Bro. Frey left us a student from Gettysburg was 
sent to the English congregation, D. John McCron, who now 
■lives in Baltimore. On Sunday evenings he frequently preach- 
ed in various churches and because of his oratorical gifts was 
well liked. The small flock of English-speaking Lutherans 
increased; the German congregation also grew from Sunday 
to Sunday. But now we were confronted with the difBcult 
task of building two new churches. The Germans were all 
poor, and among the English there was only one wealthy mem- 
ber. The German congregation made the tirst move, and 
bought a building lot on Sixth street, between Smithfield and 
Grand streets. Work was begun, but soon had to be stopped 
again because part of the lot was demanded as belonging to a 
small side street. Now good advice was precious ; some were 
ready to become disheartened, but the majority decided to 
buy a more valuable lot on the corner of Sixth and Grand 
streets. That we might be able to complete the church build- 
ing I undertook a difficult journey to collect funds, and gatli- 
ered about $1300. Without this assistance from other congre- 
gations the church would not have been finished. At times 
I was poorly received and got nothing, or was sent ofT witl'' 
small gifts ; on other occasions I received more than I had ex- 
pected. Two or three miles from Hanover there lived a 
rather wealthy man, unmarried but no longer young. When 
I came to his house he was hauling corn. I went into the field 
to him, and laid my cause before him ; he promised to give me 
something if I waited until he had his wagon loaded, and 
would drive to the house. I did not put my hands into n)y 
pockets to look idly on, but helped him load. When we had 
come to the house the old bachelor went into a side room and 
brought as his contribution — ten cents. I remonstrated witii 
him, but more than twenty-five cents I could not get out of his 
apparently copper-sheathed heart. At the next house the 
people were more friendly and more ready to contribute a dol- 
lar toward our church building. 

In reference to my collecting tour and our undertaking 



73 

in Pittsburg I wrote to the editor of the Lutheran "Kirchen- 
zeitung" on October 6, 1839: 

"Dear Brother in Christ! My present business is indeed 
the most important, but also the most difficult 1 have ever un- 
dertaken in the service of our Evangelical Zion. 

"You know that the Central Missionary Society more 
than two years ago commissioned me to preach the Gospel to 
our Lutheran brethren in Pittsburg. In January, 1837, the 
first English and at the same time the first German Lutheran 
congregation in Pittsburg was started by writing down the 
namss of members and the installation of officers. In thi 
next year (1838) the first German Lutheran Church in Alle- 
gheny was established, and on January i, 1839, a small church 
was already erected for this congregation. Since last spring 
Brothers McCron and Miller have been called as fellow-labor- 
ers in these congregations. Mr. McCron serves the Englisli 
congiegation, and Mr. Miller the German, i. e., in Allegheny ; so 
that three Lutheran preachers are stationed where four yeais 
ago there was none. In reliance on God's help and the assistance 
of Christian friends two lots of ground have been bought, one 
for a German and one for an English church. The German 
church is to be under roof in a few days, and is forty-five by 
sixty feet. The English church is to be forty by seventy feet. 
This undertaking is naturally accompanied by great outlay of 
money, and cannot be accomplished without assistance from 
other congregations. Upon the advice of the brethren in Ohio 
and Pennsylvania I have for some time devoted myself to the 
work of gathering contributions for the German congrega- 
tion, the money to be applied for the completion of the church. 
So far I have been graciously received and have had my re- 
quests granted.* 

"May the Lord strengthen me in my undertaking and 
make the spirits of men willing to give; it is God's cause. 

"C. F. H." 



*In the fall of 1839 a panic hindered the collection of money, but also 
gave occasion for some very agreeable surprises. Lutheran Obeerver, No- 
vember 15, 1839. 



74 

The first German Lutheran Church in Pittsburg was con- 
secrsied on April 5, 1840. In reference to this event the fol- 
lowing was published in the "Kirchenzeitung" : 

"Pittsburg, April 9, 1840. 

"Greatly beloved Brother! The first Sunday in April wao 
a joyful and blessed day for all true friends of Lutheranism m 
Pittsburg. Among the many various churches in this busy 
town there is at last to be found a German Lutheran Church. 
Yes, after long and persistent efforts our undertaking has now 
so far prospered that we have been able to consecrate and dedi- 
cate to the service of the Triune God the newly built First Lu- 
theran Church, on last Sunday, April 5. Seven preachers ant' 
about 1200 people were in the church and a considerable num- 
ber of persons outside who could find no seats in the church. 
The collection amounted to about $132, quite a sum at the 
present time and for such poor people as compose this con- 
gregation. A German day-school is taught by an able teacher 
in the basement of the building, and a singing society of thirty 
or forty members has been formed ; the church is forty-five 
by sixty feet and contains on the two floors one hundred 
eight benches. 

"It must be very gratifying to our Missionary Society an-a 
the Christian friends who started this work and assisted us so 
far, to learn that our German brethren in the faith in Pitts- 
burg, who formerly were scattered sheep without a shepherd, 
are now provided for and have their own church and school 
where they can worship according to the doctrines and usages 
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The congregation, ii 
is true, still has a large debt, and will for a time still need the 
care and assistance which have so far been given it. I there- 
fore hope that those brethren who have promised me to- do 
something more in their congregations for the poor German 
Lutherans in America will fulfil their promise very soon. 

"In two of my reports formerly printed I noted the receipt 
of about $700. The following is a continuation of the con- 
tributions — about $700. 

"For the kindness with which I have as a rule been re- 



75 

ceived and assisted during my difficult collecting tour I here 
again most heartily thank my beloved brethren and other 
friends. May the Lord richly reward them in time and 
eternity. Amen! 

"Respectfully yours, 

"C. F. H." 

In a few years the congregation became so large that it 
was again considered necessary to build a larger church. This 
was built on a hill not far from the new court-house. Afterward 
in the period of decay or defection from the Lutheran founda- 
tion of faith in many congregations, this congregation joined 
the Missouri Synod. To this move a part of the congregation 
was rot agreed ; a new congregation was formed under the name 
of the Second Lutheran Church in Pittsburg. Pastor G. A. 
Wenzel is its present pastor. The other congregation is 
served by Pastor Miiller, and has recently started a new church 
building which is to cost $90,000. Both congregations are 
purely Lutheran in their confession, and they still say : 

Den alten Luthers-Glauben 
Soil uns Niemand Rauben. 

It is to be regretted how far many of the preachers who 
call ihemselves Lutheran have gone astray. For this decline 
we must in great part thank the Lutheran Observer from the 
time when Dr. Benj. Kurtz was editor of this paper. The 
Observer of that time regarded the doctrine of the Lord's Sup- 
per an adiaphoron, and represented the Lutheran doctrine as an 
antiquated, unreasonable doctrine, believed by but few in 
America and Europe, and compares it with Mormonism and 
the "Holly Rollers." O thou poor Observer! The Lutheran 
doctrine of the Lord's Supper has been successfully main- 
tained and defended in most recent times by the greatest theo- 
logians. If our half-learned preachers, and doctors, too, would 
only study this doctrine more carefully they must speak with 
respect of a doctrine which is recognized by believing Luth- 
erans as the "keystone of the glorious edifice of Christian doc- 
trine" in our Church. 

In 1838 the English congregation bought a building lot 



76 

on Seventh street, not far from Smithfield street. Mr. G. 
Weyman, who was born in Philadelphia and was formerly s 
member of Zion's congregation, undertook to build the church 
almost alone. Besides the large sum which he contributed, 
he had, when the church was finished, a claim of $12,000 
against it, which the church has gradually paid ofT. In Oc- 
tober, 1840, the church was consecrated ; the West Pennsyl- 
vania Synod was present, and Prof. S. S. Schmucker preached 
the consecration sermon. The church was crowded, although 
the number of members was still small. From that time on 
the congregation progressed rapidly. Many who had kept 
aloof because they feared the undertaking might fail now 
gained confidence and put their hands also to the work. Mr. 
G. W., who is still among the pilgrims on earth, must be grati- 
fied that he can say: ''Hitherto the Lord has helped." 

This congregation is now making preparations to build 
a new church, and has bought a lot at a cost of $20,000. May 
the Lord add His blessing! 

To the account here given by Rev. Heyer himself of his 
activity from 1817 to 1840 we may add a few remarks and re- 
flections. Of his ability as a pastor and church-worker there 
would seem to be no doubt whatever ; nor of his popularity. 
Wherever he went, and whatever work he undertook, he was 
always successful. Among pastors no less than among the 
congregations he was honored and respected, perhaps the more 
so because he had spent two years in a German University. 
In 1828 we find him not only the secretary of the West Penn- 
sylvania Synod, and agent for the Sunday School Union of the 
Lutheran Church, but also a member of the committee to 
draft a constitution for a Sunday School Union of the Luth- 
eran Church, Delegate to the Maryland Synod, a director oi 
the Seminary at Gettysburg, and on the editing committee foi 
the Zeitschrift. In 1829 Heyer with Rev. Keller was ap- 
pointed on a committee to confer with a similar committee of 
the Reformed Synod concerning means for encouraging the 
Franklin Institute at Lancaster. (In 1834 when the removal 
of Pennsylvania College from Gettysburg was talked of, it 



17 

was evidently he who' suggested its removal to a small town 
rather than to Lancaster or York, in a letter to the Observer, 
February 4, 1834.) In 1839 he was a member of a committee 
appointed to examine Dr. Demme's translation of Josephus. 
Of h;s popularity among the congregations we have proof in 
the number of calls he received to various congregations, and 
the success with which he labored in a number of them. Where 
•others failed, he knew how to succeed. But he was preemi- 
nently a pioneer. There seems to be no indication of any un- 
fitness for settled work except his own restless nature. A 
congregation might prosper under him, but he was always 
drawn to new fields where foundations were to be laid or relaid. 
This period of Father Heyer's life falls into an interesting 
time in the history of the Lutheran Church. The year 1817 
marks the beginning of a movement back towards strict Luth- 
eranism. In America the progress was slow and at first seem- 
ed retrogressive rather than progressive. Two names may be 
mentioned as those of leaders : Dr. S. S. Schmucker and Dr. 
Benjamin Kurtz. The former, having studied at Princeton, 
was perhaps more Reformed than Lutheran, and more Union- 
istic than anything else. His aim was to bring about a general 
union of Protestant Churches, and he became the father of the 
Evangelical Alliance. Of Dr. Kurtz Father Heyer has 
spoken above enough to indicate his position, as well as his 
influence as editor of the Lutheran Observer. In spite of these 
leaders a more conservative tendency was growing, which 
finally culminated in the formation of the General Council in 
1866. Father Heyer fell under the conservative influence, in 
spite of the fact that from his active life he would seem to have 
had little time for study and investigation. He started witli 
lax views and practices. In 1820 it was he who held perhapb 
the first revival meeting in a Lutheran Church of which there 
is a published record. He himself sent the following account 
to the "Religious Remembrancer," from which it was quoted 
twenty-one years later by the Lutheran Observer : 



78 

Cumberland, Jan. 22, 1820. 
Mr. Editor : Having witnessed the good effects which re- 
sult from reading the account of revivals of religion, I am in- 
duced to communicate the following statement of facts, which, 
if you think proper, may be published in the Remembrancer : 
On the second Thursday in June, 1819, it pleased the Lord to 
pour out His Spirit upon some of the catechumens. It was a 
day long to be remembered with gratitude and praise. From 
this time the most of my young people paid the greatest atten- 
tion to religious instruction. The awakening became more 
general among them. Thirty-seven made a public confes- 
sion of religion and were admitted to the Lord's Table on the 
first Sabbath in July. In the morning when the hand ot 
brotherly fellowship and love was extended unto them, I 
preached from Luke 8: 4-15. All present were moved; many 
allowed they had never witnessed a more affecting scene. The 
Lord was verily in the midst of us. From that time the con- 
gregation began to wear quite a different aspect. Our prayer 
meetings were crowded and solemn. The young men who had 
been admitted as members of the church formed a praying 
society among themselves to meet on Saturday evenings. A 
Sabbath School was commenced, which numbers 130 scholars; 
a tract society has also been formed among the young. Since 
the second Sunday in June the revival has continued and 
spread. On the first Sunday in this month twenty-four new 
menil)ers were added to the church. From fifteen to twenty 
have since expressed their desire to be admitted ; several others 
appear under serious impressions, but are not yet willing tc 
yield. It is remarkable that the arrows of the Almighty were 
aimed at some of the most wicked characters in this place. 
They now rejoice that the Lord has snatched them as brands 
from the burning. Examples might be mentioned, but not 
desiring to be tedious, let it sufifice to say that the change 
among the old and young has been great and visible. The 
Lord grant that we may be steadfast, unmovable, always 
abounding in the work of the Lord. Not unto us, O Lord, 
but unto Thy Name be all the praise. It is by Thy grace that 



79 

we are what we are, and all the glory and the praise belong 
to Thee. Amen! 

F. Heyer. 

The spirit of revivalism was almost universal in those days, 
and it is said that it affected even the Roman Catholic congre- 
gations in some parts of the country. But the above account 
has no suggestion of the objectionable features which after- 
ward became prominent in the controversy as to New Meas- 
ures.* In 1834 Dr. S. S. Schmucker prepared for the students 
at Gettysburg the lectures on Homiletics in which he speaks 
of such "Seasons of Religious Revival." "If it pleases God 
to bestow a special blessing on your labors, and this you will 
have reason to expect, if you have by special efforts sought it 
in the proper way, you will have what is termed a revival of 
religion." For a full discussion of the subject he refers to his 
lectures on Pastoral Theology and to Edwards, On Revivals. 
He warns against preaching at such times on controversial 
subjects, against haste in offering the consolations of the Gos- 
pel, and all abstruse discussions. Naturally a wide range is 
left for varying methods. Father Heyer's account may be 
termed that of a religious revival, and yet fall short of even 
Dr. Schmucker's conception of a revival, for there are no evi- 
dences of a special effort on the pastor's part to bring about 
such a result, nor on the other hand any neglect of catechetical 
in<;truction. Later Father Heyer, though perhaps always 
more lenient than many others toward other churches and un- 
Lutheran methods of work, stood strongly on the side of those 
who formed the General Council, and would keep Lutheranism 
distinct and firm. 

L^nionistic tendencies and pulpit fellowship were very 

♦In his report as President of the West Pennsylvania Synod, 1832, Rev. 
Heyer thus alludes to revivals after mentioning that some have occurred 
in Lutheran congregations: "You also know that a difference of opinion 
on the subject of revivals exist among our ministers and members. But 
since, as Lutheran Christians, we boast of our liberty, and do not feel our- 
selves bound either by popes or bishops to ancient usages and rites, yet we 
must be particularly careful to build upon the foundation of our Evangelcal 
Zion, and never to lose sight of the landmarks of our Lutheran Church. In 
many places and congregations it is easy and most advisable to adhere to 
the old European Church order and discipline. But it is equally necessary 
in other places that we In eome respects pursue the same measures adopted 
by other denominations by which we are surrounded. If we wish to main- 
tain the number and efficiency of our congregations. Judge not: let this 
be our motto." Lutheran Observer, 1832, p. 55. 



/ 



8o 

common in those days. Father Heyer speaks of the pecuhar 
conditions in some of his congregations, where there were 
Union churches and even union church councils. The distinc- 
tion between the Lutherans and the German Reformed was 
specially slight in those days, perhaps because of the Prussian 
Union formed in 1817. But this unionism also he outgrew, 
so that in 1840 he stood out boldly against a connection of the 
Lutheran Mission work with the American Board of Commis- 
sioners of Foreign Missions. 

It is interesting to note how Father Heyer was during 
these years prepared for foreign mission work. His natuial 
disposition inclined him to a roving life. His failure to re- 
ceive the call to the Lehigh county congregation and the ap- 
pointment as traveling preacher encouraged the inclination 
within him. His generally rapid success in congregations, 
and frequent calls still further tended to free him or keep him 
free from local attachments of a permanent character. His 
zeal for the work of gathering men into the church added its 
quota in leading him to accept traveling appointments, tak- 
ing him away from home for months at a time. His sympa- 
thies widened and his courage increased. The knowledge ho 
had gained among the American people he felt fitted him for 
work among the heathen. The death of his wife (in 1839) 
still further loosened the bonds binding him to a home. His 
experiences in crossing what were then practically uncivilized 
portions of America accustomed him to the habit of enduring 
all things, and freed him from that dependence on the com- 
forts and luxuries of life which frequently prove a hindrance 
to the missionary. When a missionary to foreign lands was 
talke^l of seriously no man could be found better suited to the 
work than Father Heyer. To his qualifications — only his age 
was spoken of as a hindrance — must be added the fact of hi^-. 
large acquaintance in the church and the confidence of the 
church ■ :.--Ti. Few men would have undertaken the work 
as he did, itw could have done so, and very few would have 
been asked to do so by the church itself. In India, or any 
other field that might have been chosen, the work must have 
been pioneer work, and Father Heyer was preeminently the 
pioneer of the church of those days. 



